“Punjab Police at your service”. The Catchline of Punjab Police aimed at projecting the force as most polite and people friendly is belied on hearing the horrific experience narrated by the victims of Police brutality in Punjab even today. Instances of Punjab Policemen acting beyond the pale of law in the name of “Containing terrorism” does not seem to be a thing of the past, going by the instances of Police highandedness reported even today in a most blatant fashion and the Policemen becoming the Judge, Jury and the Executioner in settling private property disputes, which is evident from the tale of woes and injuries present on the body of Shashi Parkash Sharma, a businessman of Jalandhar.

Shashi Parkash Sharma, a young transporter of Jalandhar was having litigation over a rented property, No.770,Mota Singh Nagar,Jalandhar, owned by the wife of a Punjab Superintendent of Police, Mr.Gurcharan Singh who is currently posted in Assam. Inspite of having Stay order from the Civil Courts, Shashi Sharma was implicated in a false case of tresspassing into the said premises by the Police of P.S.Div.No.6,Jalandhar, in 1998. After he obtained bail, the police started using unlawful methods and even attacked him in order to force him to vacate the premises. The matter became worse in the year 2000 when he and his employees were unlawfully kidnapped and kept in illegal detention by a Police informer (CAT) turned Inspector, Mr.Gurmeet Singh alias “Pinky”, Incharge of CIA Staff, Jalandhar. During this illegal detention, Mr.Sharma was subjected to third degree torture, given electric shocks on his private parts and made to lay naked on ice-slabs for hours. All this was done by Inspector Gurmeet Singh “Pinky” in the presence of Mrs.Manjit Kaur, the landlady(wife of Gurcharan Singh, SP, Punjab Police) between 4.2.2000 till 8.2.2000. He was later thrown on a garbage dumping point in Jalandhar when his relatives approached Punjab & Haryana High Court and search warrants were issued against the Police. Even after that he was constantly harassed and threatened of more serious consequences, if he did not left the premises of the Superintendent of Police. He even made several representations to every concerned authorities and even met Chief Minister, Punjab, and continued suffering the wrath of Punjab police even after getting assurance from the Chief Minister. Thereafter his cousin brother Anil Sharma, who had to give evidence in his favour before the Punjab State Human Rights Commission, at Chandigarh was kidnapped and threatened with false implication in criminal cases if he dared to give evidence against Inspector Gurmeet Singh “Pinky”.

While the inquiry relating to above violation of his human right is pending in Punjab State Human Rights Commission, he was caught unaware on 16th May, 2000 at 11 a.m. in the office of Indo-Canadian Transport Company, Jalandhar where he had gone for business dealing, when a police party headed by Station House Officer of Division No.4, S.I.Nirmal Singh and eighteen other policemen picked him up at gun-point and even arrested his two official gunmen without informing him about the ground of the arrest. He was taken to the Police Station where he was told that since he had jumped bail in a case pending against him, he should furnish fresh bail-bonds if he wants to get released. In the evening his Uncle gave his surety and sought his release from the Police custody. But instead of freeing him and his gunmen, the Policemen handed them over to the SHO of another Police Station Sadar,Jalandhar who told them that a case had been registered against them in his police station and he has to arrest them. He was taken by Inspector Gurmeet Singh “Pinky” illegally to Police Station Div.No.4 where in the first floor of the Police Station, he was brutally tortured and was threatened with life if he did not agree to withdraw all his cases against Gurmeet Singh “Pinky”. He was made naked and given severe beating on each and every sensitive part of the body. His only offence was that he was not ready to vacate the tenancy premises under Police pressure and refused to withdraw court cases against Gurmeet Singh “Pinky”. Later on when he became un-conscious, he was shifted to the lock-up and implicated in two false cases at the instance of Gurmeet Singh Pinky. Even one case has been filed against Shashi Sharma by the SP in Guwahati (Assam) using his influence over local police.

This was not the end of his suffering. His cousin brother Anil Sharma was also subjected to similar treatment. He was picked up from a hospital in Jalandhar where his sister was struggling for her life in an accidental burn case. He was taken to Police Station Division Sadar and booked in the same case with Shashi Sharma. He was also badly tortured and was even forcibly made to consume poison as a result of which he became ill and even collapsed in the Court room and sensing his serious condition, he was shifted to Civil Hospital, Jalandhar and had to be given emergency medical treatment. He is still struggling for his life in the jail hospital in Central Jail, Jalandhar. Even the gunmen of Shashi Sharma were not spared. The two gunmen were also arrested, their arms and ammunition snatched and put behind the bars for no fault of theirs. They were simply performing their duty of protecting Shashi Sharma as per the orders of Punjab State Human Rights Commission, but the Punjab Police of Jalandhar even did not care to spare their men and implicated the two gunmen also, in false cases with Shashi Sharma.

The moot question that remains to be answered is, if such treatment is given by Punjab Police today, to a highly resourceful person like Mr.Shashi Sharma, what good an ordinary citizen could expect from these “butchers” in Khaki ? Importantly enough, isn’t this behavior of the Police that forces a peace loving citizen to take to gun rather than adopting the path of law that “takes its own course”, as the cliched phrase goes. Its’ high time, that the rulers of the times and the concerned authorities in the Punjab Police must sternly deal with Police officers like Gurmeet Singh “Pinky”, if they want to restore normalcy in the State, otherwise, the most probable prediction that Punjab would again be ruled by the gun and not the law, will become a reality.

CHANDIGARH
JUNE 13, 2000