13 years later,court convicts 4 Haryana cops but none alive

After 13 years and four deaths,on September 26,the Ambala court holds all six guilty. But finally when the punishment is announced on Saturday,only the two surviving businessmen were there to carry it out — three years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 3,000 each.

Both Trehan and Manchanda were granted an interim bail on Saturday.

The tale of torture and trauma began when the five youngsters — Roshan Lal (from Kaithal),Vikas and Kuldip (from Ambala),Mahender Singh (from Kurukshetra) and Amarjeet Singh (from Pehowa) — were attending coaching classes for Army recruitment entrance test at an institute in Ambala and staying separately at Mahesh Nagar.

In a sudden swoop on December 11,1998,a Haryana police team led by Raghubir Singh picked up Roshan Lal and Vikas and informed their landlord Ramesh Chand that both of them along with their three friends — Amarjeet,Mahender and Kuldip — had committed a theft in a house in the same area.

Kept under illegal detention,all five were given third degree treatment till their families agreed to pay Rs 5,000 per boy to get them released the next day.

On December 16,1998,based on a complaint made by Ravi Trehan that some jewellery had been stolen from his house,an FIR was lodged,and again the same police team picked up the five boys. This time,the torture was severe and two of them landed up in a hospital.

However,for the families of these five boys,justice has come a bit too late and has become meaningless. “Since policemen have already died,the verdict is meaningless,” said Karamjit Kaur,mother of Kuldip Singh.