Twenty four years after Kuldip Singh was ‘killed’ in a fake encounter case, Punjab police top cop SK Sharma and four others have been charged with murder, abduction, criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence on Tuesday.
The Director General of Police (Human Resource Development), Sharma, the then Patiala SSP, will now face trial for these offences under Sections 302, 364, 120 B and 210 of the Indian Penal Code before the sessions court in Ropar.
Besides Sharma, others convicted police officers are former DIG SPS Basra, former DSP and then Morinda SHO Balkar Singh, and former ASI Gurcharan Singh.
District and Sessions Judge Amarjot Bhatti, who has reserved the order on Sharma’s anticipatory bail on Monday, has accepted the same. Sharma had filed an anticipatory bail application after Additional District and Sessions Judge KS Sullar on May 6 had ordered that charges be framed against him.
Going into background of the matter, on October 24, 1990, Amrali village resident Kuldip Singh was kidnapped by unidentified persons from Morinda. On May 15, 1991, his father Ajaib Singh read Patiala SSP (SK Sharma)’s statement in a newspaper claiming that one Kuldip Singh of Amrali village had been killed in an encounter on May 1.
Subsequently, Ajaib Singh approached the authorities concerned seeking justice, but to no avail. Finally, a case was registered in 1998 under Sections 364 and 34 of the IPC against the four police officials.
On May 6, Additional District and Sessions Judge KS Sular observed that prima facie offence under Sections 302, 201-120B IPC was also made out besides under Sections 364 and 34 IPC.