CBI court holds 3 former Punjab cops guilty in 32-year-old fake encounter case

The case was investigated by the CBI following the orders issued by the Supreme Court on November 15, 1995. After registering the case, the CBI, on November 21, 1996, recorded the statement of Pritam Singh, a resident of Tarn Taran. Pritam Singh reported the abduction of his son Jagdeep Singh Makhan on November 18, 1992, by a police party led by Gurbachan Singh, who was then the station house officer (SHO) of Tarn Taran.

On February 27, 1997, the CBI registered a case against Gurbachan Singh and others under Sections 364, 302, and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC. After completion of the investigation, it presented a chargesheet against Gurbachan Singh, Resham Singh, Hans Raj and Arjun Singh, all police officers of Tarn Taran (city) police station.

The chargesheet said Jagdeep Singh Makhan was abducted by a police party headed by Gurbachan Singh after killing his mother-in-law Sawinder Kaur. Similarly, another man, Gurnam Singh Pali, was abducted by Gurbachan Singh and other police officers on November 21, 1992, from his home. Both were subsequently killed on November 30, 1992, by a police party headed by Gurbachan Singh. Their bodies were cremated as “unknown and unclaimed”.

What the police FIR said

The FIR filed by the police in the deaths of Jagdeep Singh and Gurnam Singh Pali said that on November 30, 1992, SHO Gurbachan Singh and other police officers were patrolling in the morning when they observed a young man moving suspiciously near Noor Di Adda in Tarn Taran. When questioned, the man identified himself as Gurnam Singh Pali. During the interrogation, he admitted to being involved in throwing a hand grenade at the provision store of one Darshan Singh, located on the railway road in Tarn Taran.

Gurnam Singh was taken for the recovery of arms and ammunition reportedly concealed in Behla Orchard. During this operation, militants inside the orchard fired on the police party, prompting the police to retaliate in self-defence. In the ensuing chaos, Gurnam Singh Pali attempted to escape by running in the direction of the incoming bullets but was killed in the crossfire.

Additionally, the FIR said that while searching the orchard, the body of a deceased militant, later identified as Jagdeep Singh Makhan, was also recovered. Both bodies were cremated as “unclaimed” at the cremation ground in Tarn Taran.

During the trial of the fake encounter case, Arjun Singh passed away in December 2021, and the proceedings against him were terminated. As many as 46 witnesses were cited by the CBI in this case, and 24 of them provided testimony during the trial.

As many as 18 witnesses, including the complainant Pritam Singh, passed away during the trial. Also, the sanctioning authority, Rajesh Chhabra, also expired during the proceedings. As a result, Capt Narinder Singh, the then special secretary (home) in the Department of Home Affairs and Justice, was examined as a replacement for prosecution witness No. 24

The accused examined 13 defence witnesses and submitted extensive documents in their defence.