Elderly woman seeks death sentence for convicted Tarn Taran Police inspector

Amritsar, February 3

Swarn Kaur (87), mother of Santokh Singh, a Punjab State Electricity Board employee who was allegedly abducted and kept in illegal detention by the Tarn Taran police before his mysterious disappearance in 1991, expressed dissatisfaction over the sentence announced by the CBI Special Court, Mohali.

The court has convicted Inspector (retd) Major Singh, then SHO of Sadar police station in Tarn Taran and sentenced him to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment under Sections 364 of (kidnapping in order to murder) and 344 of the IPC (wrongful confinement for 10 days or more) on Monday.

A resident of Jaspal village, Swarn Kaur pointed out that being a cop Major Singh had the duty to safeguard the public, but he had kidnapped her son. “The court should have sentenced him to life imprisonment or awarded death sentence for his act,” she said and pointed out that she has been fighting the legal battle for the past 32 years.

“The sentence was unduly lenient for such a grave and heinous crime. We will review the judgment and will challenge in the Punjab and Haryana High Court,” said advocate Jagjit Singh Bajwa.

The victim was posted at Butari subdivision. On July 13, 1991, after he came back from his duty, Major Singh along with a police party arrested the victim in front of Swaran Kaur and his wife Rajwinder Kaur. He was allegedly kept in illegal detention for 10 days before his mysterious disappearance.

Swaran Kaur had even approached the higher police authorities for the release of her son, but to no avail.

Disappearance case

Swarn Kaur (87), mother of Santokh Singh, a Punjab State Electricity Board employee who was allegedly abducted and kept in illegal detention by the Tarn Taran police before his mysterious disappearance in 1991, expressed dissatisfaction over the sentence announced by the CBI Special Court, Mohali.