Amritsar, March 12
Upset over CBI cases, Swarn Singh Hundal, who retired as DSP in 2002, committed suicide with his double-barrel gun at his residence in Gopal Nagar, near police chowki, here this evening.
Many retired police officials who were facing charges of “fake encounters” during the peak of militancy today alleged that Hundal committed suicide under depression as their cases could not be pursued properly by the state government or the Punjab police. In 2005, Ajit Singh Sandhu, a retired SSP, Tarn Taran, who was key accused in the Khalra murder case had committed suicide by jumping before a running train.
The wife of the deceased alleged that her husband was under depression due to the CBI cases .
The retired DSP was also involved in the killing of noted singer Dilshad Akhtar in Gurdaspur district. The singer was killed while he was singing on the stage at a marriage party. The DSP had insisted that Dilshad sing “Nachhe jo sade naal...” of Hans Raj Hans. Dilshad refused to sing that song because it belonged to another
singer. Provoked over the refusal, the DSP, who was drunk at that time, took out an AK-47 from his
bodyguard and fired at him, resulting in Dilshad’s death.
He was dismissed from service and sent to jail. Later, he was reinstated. Apart from this, the retired DSP was facing other cases.
SHO Neeraj Kumar said the preliminary inquiry revealed that the retired cop was upset over the cases he was facing.
One of the cases was regarding the disappearance of a youth of Sur Singh village (Bhikhiwind) . The parents of the youth who fled from police custody had filed a petition that their son was killed by the DSP.
The police
said the bullet of the double-barrel gun pierced through his chin when he pressed the trigger with his toe.
The retired DSP is survived by two sons, a daughter and his widow.
The senior police officers, including DIG Parmpal Singh Sidhu, rushed to the house of the deceased.
Police sources said the retired DSP was also facing CBI case regarding the killing of top militant Gurmit Singh Sohal of Gurdaspur in a “fake encounter” . His senior officers claimed the retired cop had shown exemplary courage during militancy in Punjab.
