Over three decades after a 21-year-old man was killed in a fake encounter in Tarn Taran, a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court sentenced former Panjab Police Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Dilbagh Singh to seven years of rigorous imprisonment and former Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Gurbachan Singh to a life-term. The bench presided by Judge RK Gupta also imposed fines of $4,500 on the two convicts, said the victim’s counsel Sarabjeet Singh Verka. The victim, fruit vendor Gulshan Kumar, was abducted by a police party on 22 Jun 1993 and killed in a fake encounter on 7 Jul 1993. The police team was led by Dilbagh Singh, then DSP of Tarn Taran, as per the testimony of the victim’s father Chaman Lal. Lal further testified that his son’s body was cremated by police on 22 Jul 1993, without the knowledge of the family. In compliance with the Supreme Court of India’s orders, the CBI registered a case against Dilbagh Singh and four others on 28 Feb 1997. After the completion of the investigation, a charge sheet was filed against Dilbagh Singh, then Inspector Gurbachan Singh, then Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Arjun Singh, then ASI Devinder Singh, and then Sub Inspector Balbir Singh on 7 May 1999. Arjun, Devinder, and Balbir died during the trial. Charges were filed on 7 Feb 2000. The CBI examined 32 witnesses. Evidence showed that the accused police officers staged the murder as an encounter. As the case progressed, Chaman Lal, the chief petitioner and father of victim Gulshan Kumar, died in 2023 (SDW Vol. 1 Issue 15, Story 4).
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