|
Travel Sites Visit
Goa, Karnataka,
Kerala, Tamil
Nadu, Andhra Pradesh |
DSP, five cops convicted for killing human rights activist
Patiala: A court in Patiala district has convicted six policemen, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) on charges of kidnapping and murdering a prominent human rights activist in 1995. The victim, Jaswant Singh Khalra, had tried to expose police violations in 1990s. He was abducted from his home in Amritsar in 1995 and had been missing since then. DSP Jaspal Singh and Assistant Sub Inspector Amarjit Singh have been awarded life imprisonment. The remaining four have been imprisoned for seven years and fined 5,000 rupees each for destroying evidence, kidnapping and conspiracy. Two other policemen died during the trial. Barjinder S.Sodhi, Khalra's advocate, said they would like the authorities to prosecute two other accused policemen who were named by a key witness in the case. "Kuldip Singh had named the then DGP (Director General of Police) K. P. S. Gill and two other policemen. We will approach the CBI (Central Bureau of investigation) in writing to conduct an enquiry against these people so that they can also be tried in this case," Sodhi said.
Paramjit Kaur Khalra, Jaswant Singh Khalra's wife, said it was a test
case for the whole of Punjab. She fought the case for 10 long years. She
was expecting the death penalty for the accused. "This is a test case
for Sikhs and for human right activists. Khalra had challenged the state
and the state had to take such a decision," she told reporters outside
the court. But the counsel for the accused said he would approach High
court for remedy. "We will appeal against this judgement in the high court,"
said Deepak Sood, counsel for the accused.
- Nov 19, 2005
Tourist
offices
in India
|
Window
on India |
|
News
Links |