Seeking Justice for 23 Years for a Son Murdered by Punjab Police

:dateline:90-year old Chaman Lal is a resident of Tarn Taran. Living in poverty, Chaman Lal is now in the last�phase of his life. He is a living testament to�the crimes committed by the Punjab police in the 1990s. �His elder son was arrested on June 22, 1993 and killed in a false encounter by Punjab police on July 22, 1993, amidst the wave�of illegal murders carried out by the Punjab police under former DGP KPS Gill.

Chaman Lal has been trying�to get the murderers of his son behind bars�for�the last 23 years. Due to�his efforts, an investigation of the case was carried out by the CBI. �Four years later, on February 28, 1997, it�resulted in indictments on murder charges for�former DSP Dilbagh Singh, SHO Gurbachan Singh, ASI Davinder Singh, Balbir Singh and Arjan Singh. In the trial, the accused were found guilty of murder and were sentenced to�life imprisonment. However, they succeeded in receiving�bail after 2 years and are roaming free now.

Chaman Lal’s�last wish is for justice�to see the murderers of his son in prison. Chaman Lal said in a low�voice that if he passes away during the trial of this case, his younger son Parveen Kumar, Senior Advocate Rajwinder Singh Bains, Advocate Jagdeep Singh Randhawa, and Harmandeep Singh Sarhali would�look after the case. Chaman Lal said�that during the trial, the police�tried to negotiate with him by offering him a�Rs. 7.5 million bribe, but he said that even though he was poor he�refused to�sell his conscience.

“My last wish is to see the murderers of my son behind bars,� he said.

Several much murders were carried out in cold blood by the Punjab police to invoke animosity between Sikh and Hindu communities. �While Sikh youth were eliminated in large numbers, a large number of Hindu families were also affected as their family members were killed to put blame on Sikh organizations.