Former SSP, DSP among 5 Punjab cops convicted of killing 7 in 1993 fake encounter

All five were taken into custody following the verdict. Five other accused police officers during the course of the trial while one turned prosecution witness. The quantum of sentence will be pronounced on Monday.

The case stems from two separate alleged fake encounters in June and July 1993, in which seven men were picked up by the police, illegally detained, tortured, and later shown as killed in staged encounters.

According to the CBI, five of the seven victims belonged to Dalit communities.

According to investigation carried out by the CBI, the victims were initially picked up in connection with a robbery case in village Sangatpura. However, they were later declared as militants and shown to have been killed in armed encounters with the police. Their bodies were not returned, nor were families informed.

As per the CBI, on the morning of June 27, 1993, Inspector Gurdev Singh — then SHO of Sarhali police station — led a police team that picked SPOs Shinder Singh, Desa Singh, Sukhdev Singh, Balkar Singh alias Bobby, and another person Daljit Singh — all residents of Rani Vallah — from the residence of a government contractor in the presence of family members. They were taken to PS Sarhali, where they were allegedly tortured to confess to the robbery.

Subsequently, on July 2, 1993, Sarhali police filed an FIR (No. 61/93) claiming that three SPOs — Shinder Singh, Desa Singh, and Sukhdev Singh — had absconded with government-issued arms.

On July 12, police claimed that while escorting one Mangal Singh to village Gharka for recovery in a dacoity case, their party was attacked by militants. In the alleged crossfire, Mangal Singh and three others — Desa Singh, Shinder Singh, and Balkar Singh — were shown as killed. Police recovered arms and ammunition from the scene and registered another FIR (No. 72/93) at Sarhali police station.

The forensic analysis, however, revealed inconsistencies. The Central Forensic Science Laboratory found that the bullet casings collected at the scene did not match the weapons allegedly recovered from the deceased. Post-mortem examination reports also indicated that the victims had been tortured prior to death. Despite being identified by two ASIs, the bodies were cremated as “unclaimed” and “unidentified.”

In a separate incident, the CBI found that another victim from the earlier group, Sukhdev Singh, had been handed over to Verowal police. Around the same time, police abducted Sarabjit Singh from village Hansawala and Harwinder Singh from Kaithal, Haryana. All three were shown as killed in another encounter on July 28, 1993, allegedly involving Verowal police officers.

An FIR (No. 44/93) was registered at Verowal police station, and police documented the recovery of a bolt-action rifle, a 12-bore gun, and a .303 rifle. The CBI found these documents to be fabricated to justify the killings.

The case was originally brought to light as part of the broader investigation into mass cremations of unclaimed bodies in Punjab during the militancy era, spearheaded by human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra. Following Supreme Court orders on December 12, 1996, the CBI began its inquiry.

The central agency registered a regular case in 1999 based on the complaint of Narinder Kaur, wife of SPO Shinder Singh. She alleged that that her husband was killed in a fake encounter and cremated as an unidentified person.

The CBI filed a chargesheet in 2002 against 11 accused officers. However, trial proceedings were delayed due to legal stays between 2010 and 2021. During this period, five of the accused died. Out of 67 witnesses cited by the CBI, 36 died away during the prolonged trial, and only 28 were able to testify.

Sarabjit Singh Verka, counsel for the victim families, welcomed the court’s decision and noted that justice had been delayed but ultimately delivered.

Gurmeet Kaur, widow of SPO Sukhdev Singh, said, “I was pregnant when my husband was killed. We didn’t even know he had died until 15 days later. He left home for duty and never returned. I raised my children doing domestic work. We sold off everything we owned to fight this case. Now, after 32 years, justice has finally been served.

She urged the Punjab government to grant her children jobs and compensation. “Now that the court has declared my husband innocent, I hope the government recognizes our suffering,” she said.

Nishan Singh, son of another victim, said, “We fought the case in high court, the Supreme Court and later in the CBI court. We are hopeful that justice will be done with strict punishment to the guilty and compensation for the affected families so that we can rebuild our lives.”