CHANDIGARH, Punjab—Finally, the Mohali Court has issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against the former Punjab DGP Sumedh Saini in Balwant Singh Multani abduction and murder case dating back to December 1991. In this non-bailable warrant issued by the Court of Judicial Magistrate First Class Ravtesh Inderjeet Singh, the SHO of Mataur police station has been directed to produce Sumedh Saini by September 25.
This non-bailable warrant against Sumedh Saini comes a day after he approached Supreme Court seeking anticipatory bail. Earlier, his anticipatory bail plea was rejected by the Punjab & Haryana High Court.
At present, Saini’s whereabouts are unknown and the Punjab police have also failed to trace him despite conducting raids at his residences in Hoshiarpur, Chandigarh, and New Delhi.
Case Background:
In 1991, the Chandigarh police had abducted Balwant Singh Multani from his residence immediately after an attack on Sumedh Saini in Chandigarh. Four cops deployed in the security of Saini were killed, while he survived the attack.
After abducting Balwant Singh Multani, the cops had committed inhuman torture on him at the behest of Sumedh Saini.
“During the night of December 13, 1991, the cops of Sector-17 police station produced Balwant Singh Multani before Sumedh Saini. He was tortured so cruelly that he was left unable to stand. When he fell down, Sumedh Saini kicked him so cruelly that his eye came out. Next morning, he was lying unconscious in a pool of blood. Saini came and ordered the cops to put him inside a vehicle and they took him along with them,” an eyewitness Gursharan Kaur Mann had revealed in May this year.
In 2007, the Punjab & Haryana High Court had ordered a CBI inquiry into this case. The CBI had found enough evidence against Sumedh Saini after which an FIR was registered against him, along with three other cops namely SP (Operations) Baldev Singh Saini, SI Harsahai Sharma, and Jagir Singh on July 4, 2008.
Later, this FIR was quashed by the Supreme Court of India after Saini challenged CBI inquiry and the High Court’s decision.
On May 6, the Mohali police had registered a fresh FIR under Sections 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence), 344 (wrongful confinement), 330 (voluntarily causes hurt), and 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy) on the complaint of victim Balwant Singh Multani’s brother Palwinder Singh Multani against Sumedh Saini, SP (Operations) Baldev Singh Saini, SI Harsahai Sharma, SI Jagir Singh, SI Savir Singh, SI Anoop Singh, Kuldeep Singh, and other unknown police cops.
Later, Section-302 of IPC (Murder) was added in this FIR after two former cops namely Inspector Jagir Singh and Assistant Sub Inspector Kuldeep Singh, who are eyewitness of brutal torture on Multani, turned approver.
Their statements were recorded before the court under Section 164 of the CrPC i.e. on turning approver in this disappearance case.
Anyone found protecting Sumedh Saini must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, regardless who they are.
If the police fails to find him or he doesn’t surrender then the courts should take all his properties and freeze his bank account and give them to the victim families, Also large fines should be imposed on the Badels for protecting him over the years.