Former Punjab Police director-general faces trial for murder of Sikh youth

The Punjab police force has registered a criminal case against its former director-general Sumedh Singh Saini relating to the kidnap, torture and murder of a Sikh youth.

The charge relates to the disappearance of Balwant Singh Multani in 1991, when Saini was senior superintendent of police in Chandigarh. At the time, Multani was apprehended along with the father and uncle of Sikh revolutionary Prof. Devinderpal Singh Bhullar. All three were taken to Qadian police station and were never seen again.

A first information report (FIR) was registered at the Mataur police station in the Mohali district. Saini is being investigated on five charges: kidnapping or abduction in order to murder, causing disappearance of evidence, wrongful confinement, voluntarily causing hurt to exhort confession and criminal conspiracy.

An eyewitness, advocate Gursharan Kaur Mann, said that Multani who was the son of a civil servant, was “an innocent, good guy”. She saw Saini not only instruct, but personally carry out the brutal torture of Multani in police custody, leaving him close to death. Saini is facing trial along with the deputy superintendent of police at the time, Baldev Singh Saini, and five other senior officers.

The case against Saini was first registered in 2007, when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said it had enough evidence to begin a full investigation and submitted its report to the High Court. However, Saini challenged the order in the Supreme Court of India (SCI) and the SCI invalidated the CBI’s order, accepting Saini’s claim that the order was passed by a judge who was prejudiced against him.

Reports in India claim that Saini is now on the run, attempting to evade the very authorities he was previously employed by.