M A I N   N E W S

Faridkot Abduction
Abductors forced girl to write letter: IGP
Letter said girl left with accused on her own, wasn’t kidnapped
Balwant Garg/TNS

Faridkot, October 15
Ten days after two senior police officers said Faridkot minor Shruti had not been kidnapped but had left of her free will and released a letter allegedly written by her to prove their point, the police said the letter was fabricated.

On October 6, the Faridkot DIG and SSP had claimed to have received a letter allegedly written by Shruti in which she had said she married main accused Nishan Singh after she left home on June 25. A case of abduction was registered against Nishan at that time.

Today, IGP Nirmal Singh Dhillon said Nishan Singh coerced Shruti to write the letter in captivity and sent it through courier to some police and judicial officers to mislead them.

He said the police had today arrested Kulwinder Kaur, Nishu Chopra, and Rajwinder Singh alias Ghali, accomplices of Nishan Singh. Four days before the kidnapping, Kulwinder received Rs 50,000 from Nishan to prepare for the crime and Nishu Chopra assisted her.

”Ghali had fired shots to terrorise the people of the locality on September 24 at the time of the kidnapping of Shruti from her house in Dogar Basti in Faridkot,” Faridkot SSP Gurpreet Singh Toor said.

“The main culprit is not in Punjab and we have sought assistance from the ADGP (Intelligence), Delhi,” Dhillon said. The letter and some photographs released by the Faridkot Police that suggested that the Class X student had eloped with Nishan Singh had outraged the public. On September 25, public protest started against police apathy and an action committee began its dharna in front of the police station demanding action.

Nishan Singh and his three accomplices, armed with a fire weapon and rods, had barged into Shruti’s house at 9.40 am on September 24 to kidnap her. They attacked and injured members of her family came in their way and kidnapped the girl. The police station is situated just 120 metres from the family’s house, but the police visited the crime scene after an hour.

Faridkot town observed a complete bandh on September 28 to build pressure on the police for the arrest of the politically-patronised accused. A district-level bandh in Faridkot on October 12 led to complete closure in all 10 small and major towns to protest police and state government inaction.

Leaders of almost all political parties, including the BJP, Congress, PPP, CPI and BSP have participated in protest dharnas, but SAD(B) leaders except local MLA Deep Malhotra have stayed away from the aggrieved family.

Today, PPP leader Manpreet Badal visited the family and sat in dharna with them. He said Punjab was in the grip of “jungle raj” going by the alarming crime graph. “The law and order machinery is not only a mute spectator to crime, but is also working in collusion with the tormentors,” he said.

Until the police are depolarised and Punjab Home Minister Sukhbir Badal starts it from himself, there would be no decline in the crime graph, he said. “I hope you (Sukhbir) will wake up before it’s too late. Besides aping Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in distribution of bicycles to girls, five-time Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal should take a cue to improve law and order from him,” Manpreet said.

Timeline: Where is Shruti?

• June 25: Class X student Shruti first kidnapped by gangster Nishan Singh, already in the dock in 16 cases
• After one month and two days, Shruti escapes from her kidnapper; police books Nishan for kidnapping, rape
• Nishan roams in the town freely, police fail to arrest him
• Sept 24: Nishan and three armed accomplices barge into Shruti’s house at 9.40 am, attack and injure her family members and kidnap her
• Oct 6: Faridkot DIG and SSP release a letter purportedly written by Shruti that says she eloped with Nishan
• Oct 8: Police releases photos of the minor’s marriage to Nishan
• Oct 11: Faridkot SSP shifted for his questionable role in the incident
• Oct 15: Police says the girl was coerced to write the letter

Now, Guv cancels Faridkot visit

After the Chief Minister and his deputy cancelled visits to Faridkot fearing public ire and protests, Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil has decided to skip the convocation of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences in Faridkot on October 17. He will meet Shruti’s aggrieved parents in Chandigarh that day.