The special CBI court Friday held a police officer guilty of preparing false record in a 31-year-old case. The court will pronounce the quantum of sentence on November 3.
The court of special CBI judge Rakesh Gupta held Tarsem Lal guilty under Section 218 (public servant framing incorrect record or writing with intent to save person from punishment or property from forfeiture) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The case was related to kidnapping, illegal confinement and then killing of Daljit Singh, resident of Khiala in Amritsar district in 1992.
In 1994, Daljeet Singh’s father Kashmir Singh filed a writ before the Punjab and Haryana High Court alleging that he along with his sons Baljit Singh and Rajwant Singh were picked on December 13, 1992, from their residence by a police party headed by Dharam Singh, SHO of Lopoke, and then on their information his third son Daljit Singh was taken into custody from the residence of his relative at Nai Abadi, Amritsar.
It was stated in the writ that he and his two sons were released after a few days but his third son Daljit Singh was not released. It was demanded in the writ that Daljit be produced before the court. Upon notice, Majitha SSP, Lopoke SHO filed a reply before the high court but denied picking and abducting Daljit Singh.
In 1996, the High Court ordered judicial inquiry from District and Sessions Judge, Amritsar, during which it came on record that the police had shown Daljit Singh killed in encounter on December 29, 1992, along with one Jagir Singh, a resident of Awan Lakha Singh. Judicial inquiry found allegations of Kashmir Singh true and recommended an independent probe.
However, before that in 1995, the high court ordered a CBI inquiry into the matter of cremation of largescale dead bodies as unclaimed. Therefore, the matter of Daljit Singh was also taken by the CBI and the petition of Kashmir Singh was disposed of with directions to pay compensation to Kashmir Singh.
In 1997, the CBI registered the case on the complaint of Kashmir Singh and in 2001, the CBI filed chargesheet against Dharam Singh, Tarsem Singh, Swaran Singh and Avtar Singh for kidnapping, illegal confinement, murder and fabrication of record but trial of this case remained stayed till 2016 due to petitions filed by the accused before higher courts.
On Friday, the CBI court of Sh Rakesh Kumar Gupta pronounced the judgment. In this case, 17 witnesses recorded their statements during trial and eight died during trial.
In September 2023, Jagir Singh who was shown as killed with Daljit Singh appeared before the court which changed the whole situation and a question arose who had been killed in place of Jagir Singh.
On Friday, the court acquitted Dharam Singh but convicted Tarsem Lal, the then incharge of CIA Majitha, for the offence under Section 218 (public servant framing incorrect record or writing with intent to save person from punishment or property from forfeiture) of the IPC. In this case, two accused Swaran Singh and Avtar Singh had died during trial.
