Sukhpal Singh was a resident of Kala Afghana village in Gurdaspur district. Dalbir Kaun says police officers kidnapped Sukhpal Singh in 1994 and then shot wanted terrorist Gurnam Singh Bandala to claim the reward. For Kaur and her family, the ordeal was just beginning.
Kaur said, “My mother-in-law ran from pillar to post for justice. She was the one who started this legal battle. It took 29 years and the SIT has now finally said that the encounter was fake, but I saved my life along the way. ” Also lost mother-in-law and son.”
Kaur’s daughter was just one year old when her father was killed. He has almost no memories of his father. Jeevanjyot Kaur said, “You can imagine what my life would have been like without my father. I was not told about him and it was only later that I came to know what had happened.”
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The police claimed to have killed Bandala
A team of Punjab police officers claimed to have killed Bandala in 1994. Sukhpal Singh’s family filed a case on July 29 that year, alleging that some police officers abducted him and killed him in a fake encounter.
Also met the terrorist for justice
Bandala was captured alive in 1998. “My mother-in-law also met terrorist Bandala in jail and asked him if he had any idea where his son was, but got no information,” said Dalbir Kaur.
An inquiry was first ordered in 2007
In 2007, 13 years after the encounter, the then Additional Director General of Police JP Virdi ordered an inquiry. Virdi died in 2010, slowing the investigation. In 2013, Kaur approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation. In response to this demand, the Punjab Police launched another investigation, to be headed by Additional Director General of Police IPS Sahota. Later that year, the police also formed a special investigation team.
Admitted after filing affidavit – encounter was fake
It took another 10 years, but on December 10, 2023, the SIT, headed by Special DGP Gurpreet Kaur Dev, filed an affidavit in the High Court, stating that Sukhpal’s encounter was fake and that the initial FIR was filed by falsifying facts.
A case was registered against the police officers
The court was also told that in October, cases were registered against former IG Paramraj Singh Umranangal, then Morinda Deputy SP Jaspal Singh and Assistant Sub Inspector Gurudev Singh (deceased) for destruction of evidence, forgery and various other sections of the Indian Penal Code. A new case has been registered under the Code.
The lawyer credited the family
Pradeep Virk, senior advocate of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, praised the family for persistently pursuing the case. He said, “Credit goes to the family who took the case forward. Lawyers can fight the case only if the family does. They showed that even God gives justice if you take the case forward.”
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