CHANDIGARH, Punjab—The former Punjab DGP Sumedh Saini today appeared before the Special Investigation Team probing the abduction and murder case of Sikh youth Balwant Singh Multani. In this case, Sumedh Saini has been questioned a second time by the SIT.
Sources have revealed that Sumedh Saini entered into Mataur police station at 10 am and came out at 01:30 pm. He was accompanied by his legal counsel but the SIT didn’t allow his legal counsel to enter into interrogation room while Saini was being questioned.
Sumedh Saini was approached by the media when he was coming out of the police station but he refused to answer any query while saying that he will speak at length later.
Earlier, Sumedh Saini was called for interrogation by the SIT on September 28. However, the SIT was not satisfied with his answers due to which he was again called on September 30 but he had presented a medical excuse to evade appearance before SIT on September 30.
Case Background:
In 1991, the Chandigarh police had abducted Balwant Singh Multani from his Mohali based residence immediately after an attack on Sumedh Saini in Chandigarh. Four cops deployed in the security of Saini were killed in this attack, 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 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, two cops spilled the beans while turning approvers in this case after which murder charges added to this FIR.
On September 15, SC had granted protection from arrest to Sumedh Saini after he sought an anticipatory bail plea.
