MOHALI– A Special CBI Court on Monday sentenced five retired Punjab Police officers to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹3.5 lakh (approximately $4,200) each for their involvement in the abduction and killing of seven individuals in two fake encounters in 1993.
The court had convicted the former officers on August 1, finding them guilty of criminal conspiracy, abduction, and extrajudicial killings.
Those sentenced include Bhupinderjit Singh (retired Senior Superintendent of Police), Devinder Singh (retired Deputy Superintendent of Police), Gulbarg Singh and Suba Singh (both retired Inspectors), and Raghubir Singh (retired Sub-Inspector).
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed the chargesheet in the case on May 31, 2002, naming 10 police officers. Five of the accused died during the course of the trial.
According to the CBI, the case stems from incidents that occurred between June and July 1993. On June 27, three Special Police Officers—Shinder Singh, Sukhdev Singh, and Desa Singh—were abducted by a team led by Inspector Gurdev Singh, then Station House Officer (SHO) of Police Station Sirhali. That same day, another individual, Balkar Singh alias Kala, was also abducted.
In early July, two more individuals—Sarabjit Singh alias Saba and Harwinder Singh—were abducted by Suba Singh, then SHO of Police Station Verowal.
On July 12, 1993, Shinder Singh, Desa Singh, Balkar Singh, and Mangal Singh were killed in a staged encounter allegedly orchestrated by then-DSP Bhupinderjit Singh and officers from PS Sirhali. On July 28, Sukhdev Singh, Sarabjit Singh, and Harwinder Singh were also killed in a fake encounter by the same DSP and police personnel from PS Verowal.
The case was officially registered by the CBI on June 30, 1999, following a preliminary inquiry initiated by the agency’s Chandigarh unit. This inquiry was ordered by the Supreme Court on December 12, 1996, in response to a criminal petition filed by Paramjit Kaur against the State of Punjab. (Source: IANS)
