AJIT SINGH SANDHU -A CRIMINAL IN POLICE UNIFORM

AJIT SINGH SANDHU -A CRIMINAL IN POLICE UNIFORM

 Kulwinder Sandhu and Simran Sidhu

ln 1715 AD Banda Bahadur's infant son was pierced open by the tyrants of Mughal court. His pulsating heart was extracted from the still warm body and Banda was asked to eat it. On Banda's refusal it was forced into his mouth emperor. Farrukhsiar enjoyed the scene watching Banda’s eyes being removed and tongue pulled out. History is replete with such cruel but true stories. Sadly such barbarian acts have flowed into our present times. Who can forget the blindings by the Bihar policemen? With more and more information the tyranny of the personnel like Ajit Singh Sandhu during the period of turbulence in Punjab is coming to light and it giving a bad name to the entire police force.  

I or nearly a decade the terror of militancy and counter military action swayed the peace loving Punjabi state. The specter of those unforgettable years reernerge with incidents like the death of Ajit Sing Sandhu. Only time will clear the controversy surrounding this over zealous police officer who reportedly committed suicide to save himself from humiliation. Whatever may be the reasons for Sandhu to commit suicide, the incident has brought out conflicting images of his personality. KULWINDER SANDHU discover how this cop turned from a saviour to a savage and traces various colours which have emerged out of the debate over his death. 

The name Ajit Singh Sandhu, a former SSP of Tarn Taran, is now a part of the tragic history of recent times. He lived like a "warrior" but died quite, unlike a true soldier. lt looked strange to Sandh u's friends and admirers that a person who called shots during war-like situation in the thick of militancy and was twice decorated with the President's award for gallantry, could resort to suicide.  

A debate is going on about the compulsions and the immediate provocations which made this Police Officer with lot of bravado look so weak and feeble. Upinder Kaur, the widow of Sandhu's recounts, "l had never seen my husband disheartened even in the highest level of tension"  

Listeningto the views of Human Rights Organisations questions are being raised on the mental integrity of Ajit Singh Sandhu, some even say he was a coward. Justice Ajit Singh Bains (retired) who is the Chairman of the Punjab Human Rights Organisation (PHRO) says, "Sandhu was brave as long as he had the protection of khakhi, otherwise he was a worst coward. Justice Ajit Singh Bains (retired) who is the Chairman of the Punjab Human Rights Organisation (PHRO) says, "Sandhu was brave as long as he had the protection of khakhi  uniform. He couldn't stand trial in the legal court". "No brave man can think of committing suicide," he adds, The hastily scribbled note received from Sandhu said, "lt is better to die than  live in humiliation".  

 Manpreet : Sandhu's daughter
consoling her waling grandmother
- photo Rana Jaspal Singh

Sandhu's death has provided an opportunity to many people to curse the human rights activists. A section of the police force including former DGP K.P.S. Gill too has blamed human rights people for "black mailing" police officers by threatening to file writ petitions. lt is said that many policemen who fought against militancy are now feeling disappointed and disheartened. 

No doubt Sandhu was the recipient of the President's gallantry award for display of courage in the fight against militancy but on the other side, he was the only police officer against whom largest number (about 52) of criminal cases for enforcing extra- judicial methods were filed including that of murder and kidnapping.

KPS Gill who hand-picked Sandhu to battle-out militants in Tarn Taran district alleges that the criminal cases filed in the courts is stereotypical. There are stock witnesses who are being used", he blames.  

Th,e stories of brutality of Sandhu are unending. He or his men allegedly drowned many people in the canal, burnt them after sprinkling petrol and tore them into two from the middle by pulling their legs with jeeps.  

   Laxmi Kanta Chawla in mourning
the death of Sandhu- for her
Sandhu is a hero for he helped
curb terrorism- she does not
mind the methods and means.

The human rights activists have brought to lime-light many other cases. The Behla encounter between the police and two militants is an example of Sandhu's inhuman attitude. Forthe first time in the history of independent lndia Sandhu used seven villagers as human shields. He herded them together at gun point. All the seven human shields were killed alongwith two militants. 

There are also allegations of land grabbing against Sandhu. Upinder Kaur wife of Sandhu however says, "l have no knowledge about any such property." She strongly defends her husband saying that contrary to the reports he instead restored lands lo many people after dispossessing militants.  

Upinder Kaur too find Human Rights organisations at fault in blaming Sandhu for many atrocities. She says that all cases against her husband were' filed at the initiative of human rights men. She alleges black- mailing by certain Human Rights people. "Where were these men when militants were dictating terms? No Human Rights activist was in sight then", she argues.  

Despite the defence put up by Sandhu's wife, the case of cremation of unidentified dead bodies by Tarn Taran police' from 1992 to 1994 is turning out to be the most sensational case in the history of Punjab. The CBI is close to completing the inquiry of the case. The preliminary inquiries, the report of which was filed in the supreme court has identified 585 dead bodies and partially identified 274 others. No evidence was available about 1238 dead bodies registered in various cremation ground records.  

What the CBI has found is in no way less than a genocide. The CBI has yet to fix criminal responsibility but it is obvious that Sandhu would have been the main culprit. While national human rights commission is, processing claims to pay compensation to the kins of people cremated by the police, it is expected that during the course of paying compensation. more evidence against the guilty policemen would surface.  

This is one major case which has drawn the attention of courts because of the efforts made by human rights people like Khalra. He was exposing police for cremating hundreds of unidentified dead bodies. Acrime? asks Kirpal Singh Randhawa, Deputy Chairman of Punjab Human Rights Organisation (PHRO).  

He continues, "throughout the militancy period press as well as judiciary were under threat from  both militants and police. ln fact police officers used to get remands for the youth by brow-beating judges".  

ln the words of Surinder Singh Gharyala, Chairman of Human Rights wing of Shiromani Akali Dal, "KPS Gill in a determined bid wants to prove himself the greatest champion of the unity and integrity of the nation so that nobody should scrutinise his black deeds granted immunity from the clutches of law".

Beside, Gill, another former DGP Julio Ribeiro has also strongly come in defence of policemen who fought against militancy. He writes, "lt would be suicidal for any government in Punjab whether Congress or Akalis to refrain from defending these valiant sons of the state against whom human rights activists have now filed complaints in the court of law'.  

It is a matter of fact that out of 30 policemen now lodged in various jails, majority are facing cases of killing people for personal revenge. In Amritsar jail, accused policemen had gone on fast to seek government help. Swarn Singh a DSP who was their leader was arrested for killing Dilshad Akhtar a noted Punjabi folk singer at a marriage party of his son in Batala.  

Baldev Singh another DSP in jail had killed eight members of four neighbourhood related families in Bagga village in Majitha police district due to a personal rivalry. The remaining members of these families still live under the dread of policemen. On the orders of high court, they have been given policies security.  

Gajinder Singh the brother of Kuljit Singh Dhatt who was murdered by Sandhu has made a sensational revelation that Sandhu had offered him rupees one crore to withdraw the Dhatt murder case as he wanted to turn approver in the case.  

SOME FACTS AND CASES AGAINST AJIT SINGH SANDHU  

Recruited into police force as an Assistant Sub lnspector, in the early seventies, Ajit Singh Sandhu showed promise, completed his training as an ASI and was soon promoted to the rank of Sub lnspector.  

This man was fearless. His methods would let no one cross his path. He spared none and even his fellow police officers had to be cognizant of his ways to predict his behaviour. ln 1976, he entered into judicial record when Session Judge Jalandhar found that investigation officer Sub lnspector Ajit Singh had fabricated evidence in a murder case and thus the accused had to be acquitted. Ajit Singh was convicted as Sub lnspector on the criminal complaint of a fellow police officer Raghbir Singh on 31.03. 1972. The complaint was dated 20.03. 1978. Sandhu was then SHO police station Dinanagar. He called the officer to his police station, used criminal force, handcuffed him and got his medico legal examination just to humiliate him. The court of Judicial Magistrate at Gurdaspur convicted him but released him on probation considering that incarnation will damage his service career. The appeal against this decision was dismissed. Later Sandhu was involved in another case FIR 245 dated 29.10.64 registered at police station Division No. 6, Jalandhar.  

ln 1969, Sandhu was accused in the abduction and disappearance of Kuljit Singh Dhatt (Nephew Shaheed Bhagat Singh) Judicial enquiry was ordered by the Supreme Court. Sandhu was found guilty after a long enquiry of three and a half Years although he was defended by one of the top most criminal lawyer of Punjab, Tirath Singh. This was the case which finally led to his suspension and arrest in 1996, after seven Years.  

GASES AGAINST SANDHU AND OTHERS  

1 . Oh June 9, 1992, Ajit Singh Sandhu was going with his force. On the way he found Harjinder Singh Dhillon, member of Shiromani Akali Dal and a public man of his area stranderd at the road with his two friends in a maruti car as the car had developed some problem. The two friends were Mohinder Singh, member SGPC and Tarsem Singh Khalsa. They were all taken into custody and their car towed away to CIA staff. At the intervention of Sh. Ajit Singh Sekhon, member SGPC, two of them were released after a day but no trace was of found either Harjinder Singh Dhillon or his car. lt became known that till 16th of June people gave food and clothes to Harlinder Singh Dhillon in custody but thereafter he vanished.  

2. Resham Singh and Nishan Singh were two sons of Balkar Singh of Tarn Taran. Both were married and  happy. ln 1966, Resham Singh was picked up on suspicion and tortured and released after extortion of money. When this was repeated for third time he left home and swore revenge. He however never returned home.  

but on Dec. 6th, 1992, a news came that Resham Singh has been killed in an encounter on 5th of December, 1992.  

Next day a Police Party came to the village and took into custody whoever was at  home, the other son Nishan Singh, the two daughters in law, and mother of Resham Singh. Only the aged grand father of Resham Singh, Balkar Singh who was not found at home at that time was not arrested. None of the four Persons taken into custody ever came back. All the valuables of the house belonging to the family were removed and doors and windows were mercilessly broken so that no one could inhabit the house. As if this was not sufficient, after some months, a 16 marla house of Balkar Singh at Jalandhar was occupied by police force. The father and grand father are still surviving and mourning for their sons, wife, and daughters in law.  

3. On 06.07.92, Lakhvir Singh S/o. Major Singh was abducted from Truck union office at Patti' He was taken to police station Valtoha. The parents met the officer on 09.07'92 for the release of their son but were told to either pay Rs. 50,000 or get mentally prepared for his death. Since the parents failed to comply with the demand. On 12.07.92, he was shown dead in an encounter' Such was the police system fashioned by SSP Ajit Singh Sandhu.  

4. On 13.12.92, Baba Hardyal Singh and his daughter Baljit Kaur were taken into custody by Tarn Taran police  sent by Sandhu, from Guru Sar Mehraj, Dist. Bathinda. Though promised to be released within two days by Ajit Singh Sandhu, a news was published that Baba has escaped from police custody. The daughter too was never released instead all their property including vehicles, household items and karsewa materials were simply looted by the police force.  

5. On 06.04.93, Surinder Singh Gill R/o. village Takia, Teh. Sultanpur Lodhi, Dist. Kapurthala was picked up by a police party led by Ajit Singh Sandhu. When his father contacted the SSP Sandhu, Rs. 10 lakh was demanded. They could not pay the ransom and the man was never seen alive thereafter.  

6.  The most  sensational case which reveals Sandhu's sadistic mind, his boundless cruelty and greed is of abduction and killing in custody of all male members of the family of Kar Sewa Baba Charan Singh. Baba Charan Singh, his three brothers, brother in law and son were abducted and killed. His 12 vehicles were taken into custody for the private usage of the police officials. He surrendered through Mahant Sewa Dass and was made to Pay rupees eight lakh rupees so that his life could be spared. ln police custodY he was taken to various banks and was forced to withdraw money which was again embezzled. But the depth of cruelty was touched when his son's legs were tied to two jeeps and the body was torn into two pieces. Such were the brave acts of India’s gallantry award winning hero ?

7. On 22.06.93, Gulshan Kumar S/o. Chaman Lal R/o. Tarn Taran, was picked up by the police party in a petty crime of theft. Kept in illegal custody ttll 21,07.93, he was killed along with other two when their fathers failed to give the ransom money.  

 Sandhu’s Guru the ex DGP KPS Gill
joins the police officers on bhog
ceremony of Sandhu: with the
alleged barbarian acts of Sandhu
and Gill the entrie police stands
defamed: photo Rana JasPal Singh. 

8. ln Ropar in Feb. 1994, Sandhu took three lakh rupees bribe merely to release Shamsher Singh from illegal custody. His urban plot of land near the bus stand Ropar was forcibly occupied and a forged lease deed was prepared in the name of his ASl.  

9.ln Feb. 1995 Sandhu was accused of abducting Rajwinder Singh who had given statement before the CBI regarding the abduction of his mother who disappeared from the police custody in Nov 1992. His brother Amarjit Singh was earlier kept in illegal custody and released after he Paid Rs. 70,000 as bribe.  

10. ln Sept. 1995, Jaswant Singh Khalra disappeared who had publicly expressed the fear of abduction and death at the hands of Sandhu. These are only random samPle cases against Ajit Singh Sandhu and expose the police system created by him. 
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BUTCHER KPS GILL WRITES TO PRIME MINISTER ON THE SUICIDE OF AJIT SINGH SANDHU

Text of K.P.S. Gill's letter to Prime Minister I.K. Gujral on the death of Ajit Singh Sandhu

30th May, 1997
New Delhi
To,
The Hon’ble Prime Minister,
Government of India,
South Block,
New Delhi

Dear Prime Minister,

1.1 I am writing to you on my return to Delhi from the funeral of SSP A.S. Sandhu. I have maintained a silence on events in Punjab for over two years in the hope that the leadership of the nation will do justice, now that peace has returned to the state, to those brave men and women who made this peace possible.

1.2 Recent events, however, force me to speak out now; a continued silence on my part would be a betrayal of trust, an abdication of responsibility. I cannot remain silent when the memory of the men who sacrificed their lives under my command is denigrated; and when those who have survived the greatest of dangers and made immeasurable sacrifices in campaigns during a virulent proxy war are subjected to an unprecedented and unprincipled inquisition.

1.3 Men in the uniformed services are bound by a rigid discipline that imposes a code of silence on them, even when they are subjected to the greatest injustices. It is a measure of their commitment that, despite the deepest despair among the rank and file of the Punjab police, brought into dramatic focus by A.S. Sandhu’s suicide, no voice has been raised in protest.

1.4 I owe these men a debt of gratitude, as I believe this entire nation does. I therefore wish to draw your attention, and through you, the attention of the Minister for Home Affairs, the Indian Legislature and Judiciary, to urgent and distressing realities of the Punjab situation.

2.1 You have most perceptively observed, on your recent visit to the state, that the battle in Punjab was the nation’s battle, and that, consequently, the entire nation must share its costs. But what about those who were at the vanguard of this battle? Having served the national cause, are they now simply to be forgotten? Or worse, to be persecuted with impunity?

2.2 You are known to appreciate the finer nuances of Urdu poetry. Ram Prasad ‘Bismil’s’ lines can perhaps best express the sentiments of the ordinary policeman of Punjab today:

Ham bhi bach sakte the ghar pe reh kar,
Ham ko bhi maan baap ne paala tha dukh seh seh kar.

2.3 For over a decade, to wear a police uniform in the Punjab was to proclaim yourself a wilful target for preferential terrorist attack. Yet thousands of men in uniform stood as a bulwark of democracy against the unconstrained depredations of the extremists. Thousands sacrificed their lives. Thousands of others witnessed the murder of their parents, their brothers and sisters, their wives and their children.

2.4 At this time, the actions - or the failure to act - of every other branch of Government demonstrated their abject surrender before terrorism. But officers from these services are today enjoying the fruits of peace in Punjab.

2.5 This is an old story. Those who do nothing, those who risk nothing, not only ensure their survival; they equally ensure that they will return to positions of power and pelf, their "honour" intact. But the best of men, who put their lives on the line, having survived the guns of the terrorists, find themselves targets of a sustained and vicious campaign of calumny, of institutional hostility and State indifference.

2.6 The ultimate irony is that the instruments and institutions of democracy are, today, arrayed against the very people who made democracy possible in Punjab. For those who were comprehensively defeated in the battle for ‘Khalistan’, ‘public interest’ litigation has become the most convenient strategy for vendetta.

2.7 The ‘targets’ of this vendetta are being denied even the basic minimum of an impartial investigation and competent defence; even the uniform and equitable application of peacetime laws and processes. Simultaneously, they are subjected to a sustained process of ‘trial by the Press’ in which utter falsehoods are reported as truths without qualification, even though the matters that are written of are sub judice.

2.8 At the same time, the doctrine of equality before law is invoked to incarcerate police officers with the very terrorists they fought and protected the nation from. No thought is given and no provision made for their security. These officers are assaulted in jail, and no visible action is taken against their attackers. The State’s mechanism for investigation and litigation is disproportionately focused against the police even as many of the terrorist leaders who inspired and participated in some of the most heinous crimes walk free.

2.9 It appears almost as if the State is discriminating between terrorists and policemen in favour of the former.

3.1 The question repeatedly asked in this context is, ‘Were they any police excesses?’ Only a liar or a fool would deny that random excesses occurred in a campaign of the magnitude and duration of the struggle in Punjab. Wherever such excesses were detected, action was inevitably taken. The real question is whether a strategy of State Terrorism was adopted by the police; and the answer is unequivocally in the negative.

3.2 The evidence is visible everywhere in the Punjab. The victory over terrorism was not merely a military victory, it was a moral victory. Nowhere in the world has State Terrorism, irrespective of how many people it killed or tortured, ever been able to extinguish an ideology as completely as the idea of Khalistan has been extinguished in Punjab. An idea can never be destroyed by violence. Blood fuels revolution. Each police excess creates new enemies for the force and for the State it represents. Police excesses of the magnitude being alleged would have created an ever-widening base of support for terrorism. Instead, it was the support of the people in Punjab that made the decisive win over the militants a possibility. Sickened by the extremists’ acts of senseless violence, it was the people who opened the floodgates of information to the police. The victory over the venomous advocates of Khalistan was a people’s victory. That is why there is such a mood of celebration and freedom in Punjab today. Were this not so, terrorism would still be an overwhelming reality in the state.

3.3 The police strategy against terrorists gave the latter four options. The first three were conventional measures of response: the possibilities of arrest, flight, or armed engagement. The fourth option was offered in the later phases of the campaign. The terrorists were told that, if they chose surrender, they would be welcomed and embraced with warmth. At first all surrenders took place in my presence and in some cases in the presence of the then Chief Minister. But after a while the deluge became difficult to handle, and SSPs were authorised to accept surrenders. The largest number of surrenders were before SSP A.S. Sandhu. And yet, he was a "blood thirsty man"!

3.4 It must, nonetheless, be recognised that the situation that prevailed in Punjab for over a decade was a state of war - a proxy war, perhaps; "low intensity conflict" as others prefer to term it - but war, nonetheless. The Punjab Police and various central forces were engaged, not in simple law enforcement activities, but a battle to retain control over large areas of the sovereign territory of the Indian Union, against an utterly unscrupulous and heavily armed enemy who recognised no constraints.

4.1 It is for your government and for the nation’s Parliament to debate on, and define, the appropriate criteria to judge the actions of those who fought this war on behalf of the Indian State and people. What you decide will have far-reaching consequences for other theatres of current conflict. A great urgency must attach to these initiatives, if future tragedies are to be averted. A delay in addressing these issues will affect the destiny of India far more than any other single decision your government may currently be contemplating.

4.2 Low intensity wars are presently being fought by our forces in Kashmir, in Assam, in Manipur in Nagaland, and in Tripura. India, in fact, is being subjected to a systematic and sustained strategy of destabilisation from within and without, a strategy that preys on every incidence of local disaffection; it is imperative that we should define a systematic and proactive strategic response to this challenge.

4.3 The low intensity war that took place in Punjab, and those occurring in other areas of the country today reflect a pattern that can only be expected to grow in the future. Unfortunately, these are still dismissed by the national leadership as ‘non-military threats’ and an ill equipped Home Ministry is required to deal with them. The result is that the Army is repeatedly called out in these conflicts to ‘aid civil authority’. The fact is that neither the police nor the army, by virtue of their basic orientation and training, are properly equipped to handle these crises.

5.1 There is another vital issue that I would like to raise here. In a democracy, the conduct of every arm of government, every wing of the State, must be subject to review. And yet, the conduct of the judiciary throughout the years of terror in Punjab has completely escaped examination.

5.2 What is to be said of judges who failed to consider overwhelming evidence of the most heinous crimes? Who failed to administer justice according to the laws of the land for over a decade in terrorist related cases? Even in a case as fully documented as Operation Black Thunder, where the entire action was carried out in full view of the media, not a single conviction was pronounced.

6. I urge upon your government to take up these issues urgently and seriously and to take necessary steps, in combination and co-ordination with all other arms of India’s democratic polity, to ensure necessary action on the following:

6.1.1 In view of the future threat potential of low intensity wars, it is crucial that a radical reformation of internal security forces be initiated, creating the skills, knowledge, attitudes and infrastructure necessary to confront this danger, and possibly raising entirely new forces to grapple with this specific hazard.

6.1.2 The parameters within which each agency of government must respond to such challenges should also be debated in detail by your government and by the legislature. The powers, the range of extraordinary actions permitted in these situations, and the applicable legal criteria and context of evaluation of these actions - whether these are the same as those applicable in peacetime or are to be akin to articles of war, or are to be redefined in terms of the new category of "low intensity wars" - should be clearly determined and suitably legislated.

6.1.3 Until the necessary criteria are sufficiently debated, defined and legislated, immediate steps should be taken to ensure that the pattern of humiliation through litigation and trial by the media is prevented forthwith. This trend of ‘punishment before trial’ must cease immediately.

6.1.4 Police personnel who may be facing charges should be assured a fair investigation and a fair trial. To this end, the State must create a fund to ensure that the best legal assistance, advice and representation are made available to them.

6.1.5 Police personnel under investigation or trial should be incarcerated only if there are sufficient grounds to believe they are attempting to coerce witnesses, destroy evidence, or in any other way to distort the processes of justice. In every such case due care must be taken to ensure their safety in jail so that the unforgivable incidents of the past are not repeated.

6.2 Lest any of this be misinterpreted or misrepresented as a plea for ‘immunity’, let me state explicitly that I am not asking for immunity, either for any member of the Punjab Police, or for myself. But let the investigations and trials be according to the laws of the land, and let the special circumstances that prevailed in Punjab be taken into consideration by the statutes applied. Investigations and trials should not proceed according to the processes that are being improvised from day to day to implicate the police in Punjab.

6.3 A Constitutional Commission should be set up to examine the records of judicial processes and judgments during the years of terrorism in Punjab; to identify the judicial officers who failed to discharge their Constitutional obligations, and to honour their oath to dispense justice without fear or favour; to determine their accountability; and to take suitable action to ensure that the judicial and criminal justice system does not collapse or fail ever again in the face of lawlessness.

6.4 As a corollary to the preceding point, a Commission also needs to be appointed to identify officers in all branches of Government and Administration who were guilty of wilful and gross dereliction of duty during this period, in order to ensure a system in which acts of cravenness are punished rather than, as is the present case, rewarded.

These steps demand the active involvement and participation of the judicial and legislative wings of the State. I am, therefore, taking the liberty of sending copies of this letter to the Chief Justice of India, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

Thanking you,

Sincerely yours,

K P S Gill
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LO & BEHOLD INDIA GIVES JUSTICE AFTER 21 YEARS: 5 YEAR JAIL FOR KILLERS

Fake Encounter Case of Kuljit Singh Dhatt; Five Year Jail Each For 3 Punjab Police Officers
 May 9, 2014  

Kuljit Singh DhattHOSHIARPUR, Punjab (May 9, 2014)—In the case of a fake encounter involving Kuljit Singh Dhatt, three Punjab police officers, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Basra, Jaspal Singh, and Sita Ram have been found guilty. Additional District & Sessions Judge Poonam R. Joshi on Friday awarded each of the trio a five years jail sentence. The main perpetrators in the case also included Ajit Singh Sandhu and Sardul Singh who have already died.

Kuljit Singh Dhatt was killed in a fake encounter by Police in 1989. He was the son-in-law of Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s sister Parkash Kaur. After finding Dhatt had been killed by Police extra judicially, Parkash Kaur made an appeal to the Supreme Court of India (SCI) against this fake encounter. SCI set up a Judicial Commission under the Chairmanship of Justice (Retd.) HL Randev on September, 9, 1990 who submitted the report in 1993.

Kuljit Dhatt's family members expressing anguish at the judgement : 5 years for a murder

Then, a case was registered against the former Superintendent of Police (SP of Operations) Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Basra, Station House Officer (SHO) Dasuya Jaspal Singh Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Dasuya Ajit Singh Sandhu, SHO Tanda Sardul Singh, and Garhdiwala Police Post Incharge Sita Ram. Ajit Singh Sandhu and Sardul Singh have died, and SPS Basra, Jaspal Singh, and Sita Ram are there to face the trial.

Jaspal Singh petitioned in High Court in July 1997, against the First Information Report (FIR) filed against him and others. The case in High Court remained pending until 2009, when the family members of Kuljit Singh Dhatt again moved SCI to seeking the Justice. Then, the Apex Court directed the High Court to run the trial which began in the court of Hoshiarpur.

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www.tribuneindia.com dated 11-12-2015