May 26, 2015 | By Parmjeet Singh
Chandigarh: Bid to reinstate murder convict Gurmeet Pinky to Punjab police force has highlighted the issue of state patronage to police officers involved in human rights violations in Punjab. Gurmeet Pinky, a “police cat”, was formally inducted to Punjab police.
File Photo of Gurmeet Pinky
In 2001 Gurmeet Pinky was booked in a murder case in Ludhiana. He was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for life by a Yamunanagar court on September 30, 2006. The Punjab government granted him premature release in May 2014. Recently, in May 2015, Punjab police made a bid to reinstate him as ‘head constable’ at Fatehgarh Sahib. Sensing the controversial nature of the issue, the Punjab government withdrew DIG GS Dhillon’s order reinstating Gurmeet Pinky.
Gurmeet Pinky alleges that he is being ‘discriminated’ against, as many other convicted police officers, including murder convicts, were re-inducted into Punjab police.
In a recent TV interview Gurmeet Pinky said that police officers who were convicted in Tiljala (Calcutta) case, where the Punjab police personnel had killed Bashir Mohammad alias Babbar Lachhman Singh and his wife in cold blood, were got pardoned by the government from President of India. He said that murder convicts of Tiljala case, who were sentenced to imprisonment for life, are now ‘serving’ at top posts of Punjab police.
Media reports say at least 41 IPS and PPS police officers in Punjab are facing serious criminal charges. These police officers include DGP Sumedh Saini, DGP S.K. Sharma, DIG A. K. Pandey and many SP and DSP level officers are facing serious criminal charges, including the charges of murder and abduction.
Open Secret of “Black Cats” of Punjab police:
It’s an open secret now that Punjab police officers kept “black cats” 1980s-90s to commit atrocities on civilians and defame and discredit Sikh militant movement in Punjab. Many of these cats were inducted into police force. Many, who were not inducted into the police were declared dead whicle showing dead body of some innocent Sikh youth killed by the state police. In 2008 the then Punjab police chief Sarabjit Virk had admitted that he was “rehabilitated” around 300 police cats under false names after they were (falsely) declared as dead by the police.
Police atrocities and Crimes against Humanity in Punjab:
It is well documented in various documents and reports by human rights groups of international repute that the Punjab police was involved in commission of crimes against humanity in Punjab under the garb of counter insurgency operations.
The period of 1980s-90s in Punjab was marred by widespread and systematic wide-spread and systematic human rights abuses by Punjab police. Enforced disappearances, custodial torture and death, fake encounters were common policing practice during that period. [for more details see:- Death Silence: The Legacy of Human Rights Abuses in Punjab (by Human Rights Watch); Protecting the Killers: A Policy of Impunity in Punjab, India (by Ensaaf and Human Rights Watch); Reduced to Ashes: The Insurgency and Human Rights in Punjab (by CCDP); Smoldering Embers, (by Voices for Freedom)].
The black deeds of Punjab police also find mention in US diplomatic cables leaked by Wikileaks.
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Related Topics: Gurmeet Pinky, Human Rights, Police Cats, Punjab Police, Punjab Politics