FATEHGARH SAHIB: In what appears to be an attempt to mislead the court, the Central Bureau of Investigation declared one of their persons an absconder in the Beant Singh as Assassination case despite knowing that he was already in the custody of the Punjab Police.

Shamsher Singh of Uksi Jattan village, who has been in custody of the Punjab Police for the past two months, is among the seven absconders named in the charge sheet filed last week by the CBI in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Chandigarh, Sources confirm that during this time he was allowed audience with the CBI investigators on more than one occasion. It is still not known why the CBI is colluding with the Punjab Police in concealing his detention.

Investigations reveal that Shamsher Singh and his brother, Bhagwant Singh, were picked up by the Fatehgarh Sahib District police in a midnight swoop, on October 1, from their residence in the village. The truck PB12A7947, engaged by the prime accused Jagtar Singh Hawara and Shamsher Singh for transporting explosive material from Ajnala on the Indo-Pak border, too was taken into custody. The police also confiscated all the family photographs clicked during the marriage of Shamsher Singh.

Bani Kaur, mother of Shamsher Singh, said that some policemen had advised the family riot to disclose anything to the press. They were also advised against going to the court for his release. They had no knowledge that he had been declared ‘absconder’ by the CBI.

‘She said that the police officers posted at Sirhind and Khamano had last week assured them that Shamsher ‘would be released within the next few days, A relative who had gone to meet the officials concerned, three days ago to enquire about her son, had still not returned.

The SSP, Fatehgarh Sahib, Mr. Gurdev Singh Sahota, however, denied that the “absconder” was in their custody. He said that since the CBI ‘was investigating the case, it was for the same agency to reveal the whereabouts of Shamsher Singh.

But police officers in Fatehgarh, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that he was in the custody of GIA staff and was in “good health” and could not be allowed to meet anybody without the permission of senior officers, the truck was also seen parked inside the CIA headquarters at Fatehgarh Sahib. Mt was revealed that Bhagwant Singh, the younger brother of the accused, was released by the police on October 6fora day when he visited the village and took away his clothes saying that he had got a new job as a driver with the police. Since then he has not returned home. This not known if the CBI is intending to make Shamsher Singh an approver in the case.

Meanwhile, Punjab Police sources in Chandigarh confirmed that Shamsher Singh was not only allowed to meet the CBI investigators but also taken to Ajnala near Amritsar to identify the place from where the RDX Used in the blast was smuggled into the country. This was later brought to Jhingra village in Ropar district and a part of it was used in the blast at the Civil Secretariat, on August 31.

Article extracted from this publication >> December 8, 1995