Punjab Police Officers finally convicted 31-years (!!!) after Sikh massacre

Three Punjab police officers have been sentenced to life in prison for the “fake encounter” murders of three Singhs
(practicing Sikh men) in a fake encounter in 1992.

Former Inspector Dharam Singh and Deputy Superintendent Gurdev Singh were found guilty in a CBI (Central
Bureau of Investigation) Special Court in Mohali, whilst the third officer, Sub-Inspector
Surinder Singh, attended via video call from hospital on the 14th of September 2023. All three were charged with life imprisonment. A fourth officer, ASI Bhupinder Singh, has absconded during the trial and has been declared
a Proclaimed Offender.

The trio were found guilty of their involvement in the murders, but also of conspiracy and
preparing false fabricated records under sections 120-B (Conspiracy), 302 (Murder), and 218
(Preparing False Fabricated Records) of the Indian Penal Code. All three said they will appeal the verdict, with Gurdev Singh citing various illnesses to further his claims to remain free.

The three victims, Harjit Singh, Lakhwinder Singh, and Jaspinder Singh, all in their mid-20s,
were killed in a fabricated police encounter on the 12th May 1992. All three were taken in random police pick-ups, then kept in a notorious torture centre in Amritsar (Mall Mandi) before police killed them. Officers then claimed they had released all three, only for them to “disappear”. The bodies of the victims were not handed over to their families but were instead secretly and illegally cremated.

Harjit Singh’s father, Bapu Kashmir Singh, got legal proceedings against the killers underway when he filed a writ petition to the High Court in 1992 after his son was seen dragged away by police from a bus stop. However, he sadly passed away two years ago, whilst a brother of Lakhwinder Singh also passed just three days prior to yesterday’s sentencing. Countless more family members of fake encounter murder victims have not survived long enough to see the legal charges carried through. Harjt (also spelled Harjeet) Singh’s son, who was one-years-old when his father was killed, did watch on as the murderers were sentenced.

The CBI began their investigation in 1998 but witness statements only began being recorded
in 2016, meaning only 27 of the 55 witnesses cited by the CBI actually had their statements
recorded, with many witnesses having passed away. Originally, nine police officers were accused of
the crime, with five dying during the trial and escaped prosecution.

This eventual justice for the families of the victims has been marred by the long delays that
the Indian judicial systems have had due to the nature of the case. Delivering justice on the
topic of fake encounters and forced disappearances involves the exposure of state-
sponsored human rights abuses which still have their place in governmental structures like
the Punjab police. Sikhs in India have consistently been killed in masses by Indian
government authorities, and fake encounters have regularly been used by the Punjab Police
to do so.

Speaking on the sentencing, Sikh Press Association Senior Press Officer Jasveer Singh said, “Martin Luther King said ‘Justice delayed is justice denied’. This has to apply to these types of situations, where Sikh families have had to see the killers of their children free for over 30-years before courts finally decide to act.

“Sources tell us that only when Indian police officers become elderly and basically useless to the state do courts allow them to be prosecuted for crimes they are accused of. Nevertheless, there is some sense of satisfaction for wider Sikh groups in seeing the ‘fake encounter’ aspect of the Sikh genocide officially acknowledged and certified in law.

“A lot of credit for these convictions must go to the Punjab Documentation and Advocacy Project (PDAP)’s Barrister Satnam Singh Bains, a respected UK community figure that now works in India. This case had a complex history, with a large number of Punjab police officers involved and and spans over three decades. Seeing it brought to somewhat of a conclusion took great work and perserverance by all those involved, seeking justice for Sikh families whose children were targeted simply for being visibly practicing Sikhs.”

The sentenced officers join a growing list of police finally made to pay – in some small way – for their crimes.

Media inquiries- har-rai@sikhpa.com.