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Top Punjab cop Sumedh Saini
in the dock for abduction and torture
Both men believed killed by police; Saini is Badal’s blue eyed
boy
Sach Kanwal Singh
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Often compared with FBI of the US, India’s CBI indicts this top
police officer of abducting, torturing innocent men. But he
remains firmly in the saddle, with both Indian and Punjab
Governments backing Saini |
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CHANDIGARH:
Finally,
the CBI has filed a chargesheet against Parkash Singh Badal’s
favorite police officer and hand-picked man heading the infamous
Vigilance Bureau, Sumedh Singh Saini.
And it contains
details that every child in
Punjab
has known for years. India’s top federal sleuthing agency, acting 17
years after a heinous crime, has finally indicted Saini for his
involvement in the torture of a so-called “proclaimed offender”
Balwant Singh Multani and “missing person” Balwant Singh Bhullar in
connection with a 1991 bomb attack on him.
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Front Page of
Print Edition
of WSN |
Sardar Bhullar
was father of death row convict Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, another
hero of the Sikh community. The CBI has now registered a case of
abduction, illegal detention and other offences against Saini and
three other police officers. If established, abduction alone carries
a life sentence.
The whereabouts of Multani and Bhullar are unknown
since they were allegedly picked up and both are suspected to have
been killed by the Punjab Police. The FIR was registered in
pursuance of a Punjab
and Haryana High Court order directing the CBI to probe into the
elimination of proclaimed offenders in the blast case. At the time
of the incident, Saini was the SSP of the Chandigarh Police. In
a massive manhunt launched soon after the blast in August 1991,
Saini and his team of loyal officers had allegedly picked up
Multani from a house in Phase VII, Mohali, to know the
whereabouts of a suspect.
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Bhullar too was
allegedly picked up by a police party to know the whereabouts of his
son Devinderpal Singh Bhullar, whose hand Saini suspected in the
blast. After conducting
a preliminary inquiry on the high court’s directions, the premier
investigating agency has stated in the FIR that Multani was
illegally detained before being tortured. He was later shown to have
escaped from police custody. Balwant Singh Bhullar was also
tortured. Besides Saini, it mentions the names of Baldev Singh Saini,
Harsahai Sharma and Jagir Singh. Baldev Singh was the then DSP in
Chandigarh Police who later retired as SP, Punjab Police. Harsahai
Sharma, the then Sub Inspector and now an SHO in Chandigarh Police,
Jagir Singh, the then Sub Inspector and now Inspector in Chandigarh
Police and some other unknown police officials of Chandigarh and
Qadian (Gurdaspur district) have also been booked in the case.
 A copy of the
two-page FIR, registered under Sections 364, 343, 330, 167, 193 and
120-B on July 2, was submitted to a high court Division Bench of
Justice Mehtab Singh Gill and Justice Harbans Lal on July 5. After
going through the FIR, the status report and submissions made by
human rights lawyer Navkiran Singh, the Bench granted the CBI
four-month time to complete the investigations and, if possible,
present the final report before the designated court. Saini is now
the chief director of State Vigilance Bureau and the man in charge
leading Badal’s vituperative and vengeful campaign against political
opponents. He had fallen foul of the Punjab media after he tried to
implicate an Indian Express journalist in a rape case
unsuccessfully, embarrassing the government of Amarinder Singh in
2005. Balwant Singh Multani was the son of retired Punjab IAS
officer Darshan Singh Multani. The investigation was ordered by the
High Court on the plea of Multani who submitted he feared his son
was eliminated.
9
July, 2008
Also read:
Write your histories,
Please!
How CBI heaps shame on Saini, Indian
system
CBI Case a Miracle for Darshan Singh
Maini
|
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