Patiala , March 11
Six Punjab Police officers, including two retired ones, were today sentenced to “rigorous imprisonment” (RI) by a special CBI court for “abduction, confinement and conspiracy” in an 18-year-old case. A Sangrur man had gone missing after he was illegally confined.

Special CBI Judge Hemant Gopal sentenced Amritsar (Rural) SSP Preetpal Singh Virk (the then SP(D), Sangrur) to 10-year RI along with retired DSP Shamsher Singh (the then CIA in charge at Bhawanigarh), additional SHO, Sunam, Avtar Singh (the then head constable) and retired constable Balbir Singh. Virk headed the police team that picked up victim Tejinder Singh. All of them were held guilty of conspiracy, wrongful confinement and abduction in order to murder.

Mohali DSP Rajinder Singh Sohal and constable Ganda Singh were awarded three-year RI for wrongful confinement and abduction. They were later released on bail.

The CBI had registered the case following a complaint by Sunam resident Budh Singh who had alleged that the police team had abducted his son Tejinder Singh from their house on the pretext of an investigation and he never returned thereafter.

Earlier, Budh Singh had approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court that ordered a probe by a vigilance judge in Haryana. The judge recommended registration of a case against the accused. Finally an FIR was registered by the CBI on August 23, 1995, against the accused in New Delhi under Sections 120-B, 342, 343, 346 and 364 of the IPC.