Former Punjab DIG, DSP convicted in 1993 fake encounter case

Mohali, June 6

A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court convicted former DIG Dilbagh Singh and former DSP Gurbachan Singh in a 1993 case of fake encounter of Gulshan Kumar, a resident of Tarn Taran.

The court convicted Ludhiana native Dilbagh of kidnapping and Gurdaspur native Gurbachan Singh of murder and kidnapping. The quantum of the sentence will be pronounced on June 7.

The CBI filed a chargesheet against Tarn Taran DSP Dilbagh Singh, Inspector Gurbachan Singh, ASI Arjun Singh, ASI Davinder Singh and ASI Balbir Singh but during trial accused Arjun Singh, Davinder Singh and Balbir Singh had died and proceedings against them were abated.

The case was registered by the CBI on complaint of Chaman Lal that on June 22, 1993 he along with his sons Parveen Kumar, Bobby Kumar and Gulshan Kumar were picked by the police headed by DSP Dilbagh Singh and SHO City Tarn Taran Gurbachan Singh. All of them were released after few days except Gulshan Kumar. He further alleged that Gulshan Kumar who was a vegetable vender remained at a police station in illegal custody and then on July 22, 1993 he was killed in a staged encounter along with three other persons. His body was not handed over to them and was cremated unclaimed.

CBI had registered the case after completing investigation on May 7, 1999 and had cited 32 witnesses but only 15 deposed during trial as most of them died due to delayed trial on the basis of meritless petitions of the accused persons, which were dismissed later on.

Complainant Chaman Lal also died before recording his statement.

The occurrence of the case is dated June 22, 1992 but charges were framed against the accused on February 7, 2022 and therefore statement of first witness has been recorded before the trial court on April 25, 2022 i.e. after about 30 years of occurrence.