CHANDIGARH: While Gurkirat ‘Singh, a grandson of the Punjab “chief Minister, Beant Singh, and two others have been identified in *the Katia case, who was a party to ‘the sordid act, is yet to be identified.

Sources said MS, Katia, during the identification parade in the Burail jail last week, repeatedly said that the “other person” was ‘among the main accused who misbehaved with her from the beginning to the end on the night “of August 31, She said he was ‘young, tall, thin, fair complex toned and with curly brown hair and clear eyes.” He was there in Aroma hotel, where the incident started, then in the Contessa car and throughout the incident later, she added. However, it is not known if this fact has been mentioned in the report which has been submitted by the District and Sessions Judge, ‘Chandigarh, M.S.Lubana, to the Punjab and High Court. The report is yet to be made public.

Katia had, in her complaint, mentioned seven persons, Last week she identified three suspects straight away from a total of 70 persons parade in seven separate groups, but maintained that a fair complexioned youth, who was not wearing turban that night, was not among the persons presented before her, Sources indicated that she may have even missed identifying the youth in question.

MS, Katia was reportedly incensed over the manner in which the accused were being paraded. This is grossly unfair, sir. While that day most of them were without Turbans, later that week they ‘were all wearing turbans. Let them take off their turbans,” she pleaded. She even remarked that one of the identified suspects had trimmed his beard, while the other one had grown it a little since the day of the crime.

Manjinder Singhalias “Don™ was identified as the suspect who remained with her later and who ‘went {0 bring her passport which gave Katia enough time to escape, the sources added.

Incidentally, on Sept.4, a photograph of Gurkirat Singh, when shown to Ms. Katia by a News line reporter, had Jed her to remark instantaneously:”” Yes, the suspect resembles the youth in the photograph. I can say this firmly if he is produced before me in reality.” Gurkirat Singh however, had protested in writing to the session’s judge after the identification parade that he was at a stark disadvantage because his photographs had already been carried by major national and international dailies.

Article extracted from this publication >>  September 23, 1994