1993 fake encounter case: 3 former cops sentenced 3-8 yrs of RI with fines, two acquitted
Victim Palwinder Singh's daughter says the sentence is too lenient given the severity of the crime and will move to the HC seeking harsher punishment for the accused.
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Cop Malkit Singh, one of the accused in the 1993 Fake Encounter Case, at court in Mohali on Saturday. (Express Photo/Jasbir Malhi) Thirty years after a Phagwara resident was killed in a fake police encounter in 1993, a Special CBI Court in Mohali on Saturday sentenced three former Punjab Police officers to three to eight years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) with fines and acquitted two constables of all charges.
Delivering judgment, Special Judge-II Baljinder Singh Sra held Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Karamjit Singh, former Inspector Manjit Singh and former Sub-Inspector Gurmej Singh guilty of the crime and acquitted Constables Kashmir Singh and Harjit Singh of all charges.
The court framed charges under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), read with 342 (wrongful confinement), 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) — charges under IPC sections 342 and 364 were applied to certain accused.
After a detailed trial, the court sentenced Karamjit Singh (then ASI) to three years of RI and a fine of Rs 50,000 under IPC Section 120-B read with Section 364 and one year of RI under IPC Section 342; Manjit Singh (then Inspector) to eight years of RI and a fine of Rs 50,000 under IPC Section 364, also 5 years of RI and a fine of Rs 50,000 under IPC Section 120-B and one year of RI under IPC Section 342; and, Gurmej Singh (then SI) to eight years of RI and a fine of Rs 50,000 under IPC Section 364, 5 years of RI and a fine of Rs 50,000 under IPC Section 120-B.
The court also directed that compensation be paid to the Class-I legal heirs of the deceased, Palwinder Singh, from the fines collected from the convicted officers.
Victim Palwinder Singh’s daughter Bhupinder Kaur has, however, expressed her “dissatisfaction” over the verdict. “The sentence is too lenient given the severity of the crime,” Bhupinder said, adding that she would move the high court, seeking a harsher punishment for the accused persons.
Bhupinder Kaur, daughter of Palwinder Singh, with her father’s photo at the Mohali court on Saturday (Express Photo/Jasbir Malhi)
Darshan Singh, father of Palwinder Singh, alias Pappu, had filed a criminal writ petition in 1995, alleging that on the morning of March 27, 1993, ASI Karamjit Singh and other unidentified officers from the Rawalpindi police station under Phagwara tehsil in Kapurthala district, forcibly abducted his son from their home in the presence of family members and villagers.
Darshan Singh alleged that Palwinder’s whereabouts remained unknown thereafter. The petitioner expressed fear that his son was unlawfully detained or possibly killed in custody.
Later, an FIR No. 18 dated April 5, 1993, from Sultanpur Lodhi police station surfaced, stating that Palwinder Singh had been killed in a police encounter the same day.
Following a Punjab and Haryana High Court order on September 12, 2005, the CBI took over the investigation and re-registered the case. After an extensive probe, a chargesheet was filed under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 218 (public servant framing incorrect record or writing with intent to save person from punishment or property from forfeiture) of the IPC against the five accused police officers.
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