Chandigarh, July 24: In a landmark verdict in a three-decade-old fake encounter case, a special CBI court in Mohali has sentenced Paramjit Singh, a former Punjab Police officer, to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for his role in the 1993 staged killing of two police constables.
The court, presided over by Judge Baljinder Singh Sra, also imposed a fine of ₹50,000 on Singh, who was the SHO of Beas police station in Amritsar at the time and retired as a superintendent of police.
Three other accused — Inspector Dharam Singh (77), ASI Kashmir Singh (69), and ASI Darbara Singh (71) — were acquitted due to lack of sufficient evidence. A fifth accused, Sub-Inspector Ram Lubhaya, died during the course of the trial.
According to the CBI investigation, Constables Surmukh Singh of Muchhal and Sukhwinder Singh of Khiala were picked up by police in April 1993 and later killed in a staged encounter, falsely labeled as militants. Their bodies were cremated without identification, and fabricated reports were filed to close the case.
The probe, conducted on the directions of the Supreme Court in 1995, exposed how the encounter was falsified. The court acknowledged the long struggle for justice by the families of the deceased, ordering the District Legal Services Authority, Mohali, to consider compensation for them.
CBI prosecutor Anmol Narang, along with advocates Sarabjit Singh Verka, Pushpinder Singh Natt, and Jagjit Singh, represented the complainants in the case. (Agencies)
