34 years on, CBI court convicts former Tarn Taran SSP in 1992 disappearance case

More than three decades after transporter Amrik Singh Sakri was picked up by Tarn Taran police from a Ludhiana hotel and subsequently disappeared, a Special CBI court in Mohali has convicted former Tarn Taran SSP Gurmeet Singh Randhawa in the 1992 case.

Another accused, constable Parminderjit Singh alias Babbu, has been acquitted, having been given the benefit of doubt. Special Judge Dinesh Kumar Wadhwa pronounced the verdict in the case relating to Sakri’s disappearance on November 25, 1992. He was allegedly picked up by a Tarn Taran police party from Hotel Amaltash in Ludhiana, where he was attending the wedding of his brother-in-law’s daughter.

According to the CBI investigation, the family approached senior police officers and sent telegrams to higher authorities, including then CM Beant Singh, seeking Sakri’s release. However, his whereabouts remained unknown.

In 1996, Sakri’s wife approached the Supreme Court through a habeas corpus petition. The state informed the court that he had died and submitted bhog advertisements as evidence. The family, however, disputed the claim.

The Supreme Court subsequently ordered a CBI probe into the alleged illegal cremation of unidentified bodies by Punjab Police during the militancy period. Sakri’s disappearance was also brought under the investigation.

The CBI registered a preliminary enquiry in January 1999 and a regular case in February 2000. It filed a chargesheet in 2001 against the then DSP (D), Tarn Taran, Gurmeet Singh; the then SHO of Khalra police station, Inspector Suba Singh; SI Surinder Singh; Constable Parminderjit Singh alias Babbu; and ASI Jaswant Singh. The accused were booked under Sections 120-B read with 220, 364, 365 and 218 of the IPC for criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, illegal detention and fabrication of records. The chargesheet also named then Tarn Taran SSP Ajit Singh Sandhu as the alleged main conspirator, who had died during the investigation.

Despite charges being framed in 2000, the trial began only in 2022 after prolonged stays granted by higher courts on petitions filed by the accused police officials.

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The case was further marred by the disappearance of crucial judicial records after the trial began. CBI evidence, including witness statements, wedding photographs and video footage, as well as vehicle logbooks of the accused police officials, went missing from the court record. The documents were later reconstructed on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. No action, however, has been taken against any judicial staff member or official over the disappearance.

Of the 47 witnesses cited by the CBI, only 16 deposed during the trial, as several died before they could testify. Three accused — ASI Jaswant Singh, SI Surinder Singh and Inspector Suba Singh — also died during the prolonged proceedings, leading to abatement of the case against them.

The verdict comes nearly 34 years after Sakri’s disappearance, highlighting the extraordinary delay in bringing the case to its conclusion.