Craze for awards landed suspended Punjab Police IG in trouble; stage managed fake encounter; booked under various sections
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in News/ December 9,2023
Craze for promotion, medals, honour landed suspended inspector general of Punjab police Paramraj Singh Umranagal and two others in a trouble, booked in fake encounter case.
The new trouble begins after as the trio accused are indicted by the special investigation team (SIT) that was constituted by the Punjab and Haryana high court to probe a 1994 alleged fake encounter case, the Rupnagar police has registered a case under section 167-A (Whoever, being an officer in-charge of a police station and required by law to record any information relating to the commission of cognizable offence reported to him refuses or without reasonable cause fails to record such information) , 167 (Public servant framing an incorrect document with intent to cause injury) , 193 (Punishment for false evidence) ,195 ( Giving or fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction of offence), 196 (Whoever corruptly uses or attempts to use as true or genuine evidence any evidence which he knows to be false or fabricated), 200 (Whoever corruptly uses or attempts to use as true any such declaration, knowing the same to be false in any material point) , 201(Causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender), 203 (Whoever, knowing or having reason to believe that an offence has been committed, gives any information respecting that offence which he knows or believes to be false), 211 (any person who, with the intent to cause injury to any person, institutes or causes to be instituted any criminal proceeding against that person or falsely charges any person with having committed an offense) , 218 (Public servant framing incorrect record or writing with intent to save person from punishment or property from forfeiture), 221 (Intentional omission to apprehend on the part of a public servant bound by law to apprehend an offender, if the offence be capital), 222 (Intentional omission to apprehend on the part of public servant bound to apprehend person under sentence or lawfully committed), 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 120-B (Whoever is a party to a criminal conspiracy)IPC against suspended IG Paramraj Singh Umranangal and two others police officials at Police Station Singh Bhagwantpur in Ropar district on October 21,2023
It is alleged that the trio had killed Sukhpal Singh of Gurdaspur and shown that dreaded terrorist Gurman Singh Bandala was killed. Whereas Bandala was found alive.
The accused policemen had even taken gallantry award, cash reward for this murder and taken promotions in lieu of encounter.
The SIT was constituted on a 2013 plea of Dalbir Kaur whose husband Sukhpal Singh of Gurdaspur at Fatehgarh Churian Police station of Batala police district was killed allegedly in a fake encounter by Punjab Police and shown him as dreaded terrorist Gurnam Singh Bandala alias Neela Tara. Allegations are that police team led by Umranangal stage-managed the fake encounter.
The new SIT that was constituted on the directions of High Court on 11-04-2019 that included Siddarth Chatopadya, DGP, PSPCL as chairman (now retired), Special DGP (Community Policing) Gurpreet Kaur Deo (then ADGP crime), B. Chandra Shekhar ADGP (then IG Ferozepur), which recommended FIR against Umranangal-the then SP (detective) Rupnagar, Jaspal Singh and Gurdev Singh-the then DSP and Inspector of Rupnagar police.
Avtar Singh, alias Tari, was arrested by the police who gave crucial leads in the case. He said that he has taken Sukhpal Singh from Batala to Ludhiana, and later he was killed by the accused police officers in car and shown him as dreaded terrorist to take promotions and medals.
Tari also recorded his statement in section 164 CrPC before magistrate. He stated that he has working as police informer and taken Sukhpal Singh from his residence to Ludhiana on July 13, 1994. I took him to Ludhiana, where another police informer Sukhwinder Singh Bhapp was working to trace dreaded terrorist Gurnam Singh Bandala on the directions of than SSP Ropar Ajit Singh Sandhu. In lure of Rs. 5 lakhs, he hatched conspiracy. On July 28, he took Sukhpal in his car, and killed him with his pistol. After the incident he called the SSP Ropar Ajit Singh Sandhu from a STD-PCO. On Sandhu’s directions dead body of Sukhpal Singh was handed over to Inspector Gurdev Singh at Morinda, who put it in his gypsy. Later the police shown that Bandala has been killed in an encounter and SP (D) Umranangal and his team have taken credit, while the then SSP Ajit Singh informed to media about encounter of Bandala.
The SIT also recorded statement of Bandala , who was killed in ‘encounter” in 1994. He said that he also come to know about his encounter from media reports, but was not aware that whose dead body was used to prove my encounter. He said that he didn’t disclose it as he was relieved as his family was being tortured by Umranngal by keeping in illegal custody. Later after ‘encounter’, they freed his family.
“Bandala family performed his last rights and they come to know about me in 1998, when I was nabbed by police. Later a court convicted me for five years”, had told Bandala.
As per sources, so far the police have not taken any action against accused. Meanwhile suspended IG Paramraj Singh Umranangal who is already suspended in Bargari firing case, couldn’t be contacted despite repeated attempts.