Akal Takht Jathedar asks SGPC to file case over ‘murder’ of former acting Jathedar Gurdev Singh Kaunke

The statement came after the Punjab Human Rights Organisation on Friday made public the official investigation report on the alleged forced disappearance and murder of Gurdev Singh Kaunke, the Sarbat Khalsa-appointed acting Akal Takht Jathedar, in 1992 in Ludhiana district.

The report has questioned the police claims about his arrest and cast doubts on the police version of his alleged escape from custody.

“It would be appropriate to register a case against then SHO Gurmeet Singh for keeping Gurdev Singh Kaunke in illegal detention and falsification of records. The role of other officials should also be probed,” the report, submitted on July 27, 1999, recommends.

On January 26, 1986, the Sarbat Khalsa convened at Akal Takht, appointing Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale’s nephew Jasbir Singh Rode as the Jathedar of the Sri Akal Takht Sahib. Kaunke became acting Jathedar as Rode was in jail at the time. However, a few months later, he was arrested by the police from Sri Darbar Sahib, Amritsar. When Rode stepped out of jail, he assumed the post.

According to allegations, on December 20, 1992, Kaunke was taken from his home by the then Jagraon station house officer Gurmeet Singh and a police team. However, he was released at the request of villagers after the untimely death of his seven-day-old grandson. On December 25, 1992, the police returned and arrested Kaunke in the presence of 200 villagers.

In police records, however, Kaunke’s arrest was recorded on January 2, 1993, in connection with the murder of a youth from his village. He was alleged to have absconded from police custody on the same date.

On June 7, 1998, the Punjab Director General of Police’s office initiated an inquiry into the allegations of Kaunke’s extrajudicial murder, assigning it to B P Tiwari, then additional director general of police (security).

In the conclusion of his report, Tiwari, states, “Looking at all the circumstances, it is clear that then SHO and now DSP Gurmeet Singh took remand of Bhai Gurdev Singh on December 25, 1992, from his home, and Kaunke never returned home. The police not agreeing to this is not believable. It is also not believable that Kaunke was arrested on January 2, 1993, and he escaped after breaking the belt of the police constable to whom his handcuffs were attached during a firing incident between militants and a police party near village Kania.”

The report further states, “After examining all the statements, it seems that the story of Kaunke being kept in police custody and a false case being made was known to all the junior and senior officers. But due to the environment in the police at that time, it is clear that police officers were either not writing case diary entries or they were not reading them while signing such entries made by readers (junior officers).”

The police later promoted constable Tarsem Singh, from whose custody, according to the police, Kaunke had escaped. On this, the probe report states, “A constable, from whose custody an accused had absconded, was given a promotion while ignoring 28 seniors. Also, this thing cannot be ignored that then DGP K.P.S. Gill, who was given an extension ‘till next order’ on the post even after turning 60 years, in violation of all the rules. The promotion of Tarsem Singh seems part of such violations.”

The report further adds, “There was hue and cry in Punjab about the murder of Gurdev Singh Kaunke, and then DGP K.P.S. Gill must have been aware of it; within a day, SSP, SPD, DSP of Jagraon Police District were replaced. It created a doubt among the public that Bhai Gurdev Singh Kaunke was killed by the police, and the senior officers were replaced by new officers.”

Kaunke is still listed as an absconder in police records.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) government was in power in the state when the report was submitted in 1999. However, no action has been taken on the report yet.