LUDHIANA: The residents. of Monsooran village, 15 km from Ludhiana, recently shot and killed a Punjab Police head constable Sukhwinder Singh and caught constable Devinder Singh, after the two had opened firing in the village.

the armed members of the village defence committee as well as senior police officers who arrived in the village after the incident took both the policemen for militants who were out to terrorize the residents by resorting to stray firing,

However, their identity cards revealed that they were posted at Budhar police station in Jagraon police district, One revolver and a white Maruti an CHK 885 were recovered from them.

Kulwara Singh, a resident of the village, said that the policemen came to his house around 3 p. m, and started drinking liquor after asking for water. They even forced him to fetch another bottle of liquor from Jodhan town for which he was paid,

Constable Devinder Singh, who belonged to Rash in village, was a frequent visitor to Kulwant Singh’s house and the villagers alleged that he had illicit relations with his wile. Neighbors said he used to come to the house with 34 other youths off and on, and used to take her along in the car which she also admitted.

When she returned from a doctor to her house at around 6:30 p.m. the policemen were already drinking at her house, tried to take her out at pistol point, But as they were starting the vehicle, the couple rushed out, jumped over the wall and disappeared.

The policemen followed them into the village. There they fired a few shots in the air, At this point, about 30 members of the defence committee headed by sarpanch Om Parkash chased them and’ an exchange of fire followed it with Sukhwinder Singh was injured on the pelvis and he later died in CMC Hospital at Ludhiana.

The in charge of Jodhar police post Avtar Singh SHO of Sudhar, Jagraon D.P. Pribal Singh and a Border Security Force patrol party soon reached on the spot and congratulated the villagers, most of whom are CPM activists, for this act of courage not knowing that the residents were in fact policemen. The latter, on being handed over to the police authorizes, admitted that they were policemen and had been sent by the controversial SHO of Raik of, Darshan Singh.

Strongly condemning this police rowdies and browbeating of helpless residents at gun-point, the local CPM legislator, Tarsem Lal Jodhan, demanded a magisterial inquiry into the episode to uncover the truth. He termed it as an act of police terror and demanded stem action against the surviving constable Devinder Singh.

Article extracted from this publication >> October 9, 1992