ACQUITS CO-ACCUSED, TRANSPORTER WAS PICKED UP DURING A WEDDING FUNCTION
Face2News/Mohali
Nearly 34 years after the disappearance of transporter Amrik Singh Sakri during the terrorism-affected period in Punjab, a special CBI court in Mohali has convicted former Tarn Taran SSP Gurmeet Singh Randhawa in the case.
The second accused, Constable Parminderjit Singh alias Babbu, has been acquitted by the court, giving him the benefit of doubt.
Special Judge of CBI Court Dinesh Kumar Wadhwa pronounced the verdict in the case relating to Sakri’s disappearance on November 25, 1992. According to the prosecution, Sakri was allegedly picked up by a team of Tarn Taran Police from Hotel Amaltas in Ludhiana, where he had gone to attend the wedding of his brother-in-law’s daughter. He was never seen again.
According to the CBI investigation, after Sakri was allegedly taken into police custody, his family approached senior police officials seeking his release. Several telegrams were also sent, and an appeal was made to the then Chief Minister Beant Singh to intervene in the matter. However, these efforts yielded no results.
In 1996, Sakri’s wife filed a habeas corpus petition before the Supreme Court.
During the proceedings, the state government informed the court that Sakri had died and also placed obituary notices relating to his bhog ceremony on record. However, the family challenged the government’s claim.
The same year, the Supreme Court ordered a CBI investigation into cases involving the cremation of a large number of unidentified and unclaimed bodies by the Punjab Police. Sakri’s disappearance case also came under the ambit of this investigation.
The CBI initiated a preliminary inquiry in January 1999 and registered a regular case in February 2000. In 2001, a chargesheet was filed against then DSP (D), Tarn Taran, Gurmeet Singh; the then SHO of Khalra Police Station, Inspector Suba Singh; SI Surinder Singh; Constable Parminderjit Singh alias Babbu; and ASI Jaswant Singh.
The accused were charged under Sections 120-B, 220, 364, 365 and 218 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), relating to criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, illegal confinement and manipulation of official records.
The chargesheet identified then SSP Ajit Singh Sandhu as the alleged mastermind of the conspiracy. However, he died during the investigation.
Although charges against the accused were framed in 2000, proceedings remained stalled due to petitions filed by police officials before higher courts. Consequently, the trial could begin only in 2022.The case also witnessed controversy over the disappearance of judicial records.
After the trial commenced, statements of witnesses produced by the CBI, photographs and video recordings of the wedding function, and logbooks of vehicles used by the accused police officials went missing from the court record.
The records were subsequently reconstructed following directions from the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Notably, no action was reportedly taken against any judicial employee or official in connection with the disappearance of the records.
The CBI had listed a total of 47 witnesses in the case. However, due to the prolonged trial and the death of several witnesses, only 16 could depose before the court.
Similarly, three accused police officials — ASI Jaswant Singh, SI Surinder Singh and Inspector Suba Singh — died during the trial, resulting in the proceedings against them being dropped.
The verdict, delivered nearly 34 years after Sakri’s disappearance, brings another long-pending case linked to alleged illegal detentions and disappearances during Punjab’s terrorism period to a conclusion.
