Five cops sentenced to six years

A fast-track court in Bathinda today sentenced five cops to six years of imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 6,000 for abetment to suicide and wrongful confinement of a theft accused, Pal Singh, a resident of Bhai Bakhtaur village who had consumed pesticide after being brutally beaten up at the complainant’s house in 1997.

The complainant, Gurjant Singh of the same village, has also been awarded five years’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5,000. The cops who have been awarded the sentence include Inspector Iqbal Singh, Sub-Inspector Surat Singh, ASI Darshan Singh and constables, Jaswinder Singh and Saudagar Singh. While Iqbal Singh and Surat Singh have retired from service, constable Jaswinder Singh has passed away.

After a theft in his house, Gurjant had approached the police and pointed fingers at Pal Singh. The policemen picked up Pal Singh and, instead of taking him to police station, took him to Gurjant’s house and gave him a severe pasting.

Following the brutal beating, Pal Singh allegedly consumed pesticide from a bottle lying in the house. He was taken to a hospital in Maur and referred to Bathinda Civil Hospital, but he died.

And when the then chief of police reportedly gave a clean chit to the cops, deceased’s father, Gurcharan Singh, and brother, Randhir Singh, complained to the Punjab State Human Rights Commission and the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The High Court asked the then Bathinda Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) to look into the matter. The CJM had found five cops and Gurjant guilty.

On the directions of the HC, a case was registered at Kot Fatta police station for abetment to suicide and wrongful confinement in September 2001.

However, despite the FIR, a police inquiry again gave a clean chit to all the five cops and held only Gurjant guilty.