Dakoha (Gurdaspur), June 5
Kidnapping for extortion had become a business in the late eighties.
While 80 per cent persons were kidnapped for extortion, 20 per cent victims were kith kin and of senior IAS and IPS officers or politicians who were kidnapped to get fellow-militants released from jail.
The victims revealed startling information to the TNS team on the real designs of the militants. Dr Jagroop Singh Sekhon, a noted social scientist, said the militants would chose their targets with care and had little sincerity for the movement of “Khalistan”.
Most kidnapped persons interviewed said while the shortest period in captivity was two hours, Kuldip Singh Arora, a relative of a senior IAS officer and Advocate-General, remained in captivity for the months. The money extorted ranged from Rs 30,000 to Rs 1 crore, depending on paying ability of the victim.
Mangal Singh (32), a marginal farmer of Dakoha village (Gurdaspur) was kidnapped by Khajan Singh of the Bhindranwale Tigers Force in 1990 along with his wife Ranjit Kaur and three-month-old daughter Manpreet Kaur. His wife was reportedly killed after being gang-raped. Her body could not be found.
The couple was kidnapped as a brother-in-law of Mangal Singh, himself a militant, had fled with an AK-47 rifle. The ultras wanted the weapon back.
Mangal Singh who remained blind-folded for more than a week, fled from captivity and migrated to Ludhiana where he worked as a labourer.
Mangal Singh said the state government had not approached him for compensation after the murder of his wife.
A jeweller from Guru Bazar in Amritsar was kidnapped. He had to pay Rs 40 lakh within 24 hours for his release. Similarly, the owner of a rice mill belonging to Tarn Taran had to pay Rs 1 crore for his release. Most victims were so terrorised that they would not seek the help of the police.
Kuldip Singh Arora said he remained in captivity for two months and 26 days. He said many kith and kin of politicians, including Mr Buta Singh and Mr Satpal Mittal, the then Rajya Sabha member, were kidnapped at that time with a view to securing the release of top militants arrested after a sensational bank dacoity.
He said Rajat Mittal, grandson of Mr Mittal and he himself were released after the release of Ravinder Paul Singh “Bholla” who became chief of the Khalistan Liberation Force after the elimination of Gurjant Singh Budhsinghwala.
He said during captivity, he found that the militants were not committed to any cause. They never discussed their cause. They would assemble at
a particular place after sunset and operate during the night. Arora, who became a heart patient after he was kidnapped, criticised the “stage-managed” arrest of Wassan Singh Zaffarwal.
Ashok Kumar was kidnapped on November 20, 1998 from Jhabal. More than 14 residents of the village were kidnapped during the dark days of militancy. Ashok Kumar said he was kidnapped by a splinter group of militants and had to give Rs 50,000 for his release. He said he was kidnapped while he was on way to his village, Sohal, by persons known to him and his family. After the incident, the family shifted to urban areas.
Others from Jhabal who were kidnapped were Manohar Singh, a cloth merchant, Des Raj Malik, Prem Arora and Gurdip Singh.
Interestingly, Ashok Kumar belongs to the CPI. The party decided not to seek the help of the police to secure his release. Ashok Kumar said the party had to take the decision to save his life. He said the money was sent through the then Director, Cooperative Bank.
Pritam Singh Virk, a school teacher, was kidnapped from Bathinda district. He is a relative of police officer Paramjit Singh Gill, who was then posted SSP, Amritsar.
M.S. Dhillon, a former sarpanch of Jeowala village in Amritsar district, was also kidnapped for extortion. The principal of Baba Budha Bir was kidnapped for similar reasons.
