On the days of terror… the victims used to come out in disguise
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1991 fake encounter case in Pilibhit
In 2016, the CBI court sentenced the accused police personnel to life imprisonment, then the accused went to the High Court, the victims and advocates used to get threats
Pilibhit. The wounds of the incident of Sikh pilgrims who were killed in an encounter on July 12, 1991 in Gajraula area as terrorists, continue to emerge even today. For years the victims’ families lived in terror. Some left home and went to another state. Somebody left the country. Harjinder Singh Kahlo, who is defending the case, said that due to fear, he had to go out dressed like a Muslim.
Harjinder Singh Kahlo told that he had filed a writ in the Supreme Court. Police got information about this. The police had started their search. Meanwhile, his advocate had called him to sign. Due to fear, they had to go dressed like Muslims. In this condition, the mother of Narendra, who was killed in the encounter, had to be taken to Delhi. Malkit Singh’s son was also killed in a fake encounter. Malkit Singh had gone to Canada when the police started harassing him. There were constant threats from the police.
City resident Harjinder Singh Kahlon, who is appearing in the case, said that on July 12, police took 11 Sikh pilgrims to the forest and killed them in a fake encounter by calling them terrorists. On knowing about this matter, the family created a ruckus. After this, the family members appealed to the High Court and demanded a CBI inquiry. The case was investigated by the CBI in 1992 on the orders of the Supreme Court. During the investigation, the CBI had also found that the policemen had staged a fake encounter.
43 Only the guilty are alive
The CBI court held a hearing after the charge sheet was filed. In April 2016, 57 people were sentenced to life imprisonment. By that time ten of the 57 people had died. After the decision of the CBI court, the accused took refuge in the High Court. However, four more convicts have died during the trial in the High Court. Now only 43 convicts are alive.
The police roamed around with the Sikh youths in the car and left evidence behind them.
Pilibhit. It is said that no matter how cleanly the crime is committed, it leaves its mark. The same happened in the fake encounter case of Pilibhit. The police kept roaming around with the Sikh youths in the car and also left evidence behind them. The witnesses brought this evidence to the court with a lot of courage, on the basis of which this fake encounter case could be exposed.
Harjinder Singh Kahlo said that Major Singh of Bewaha Farm and Milkha Singh of Gajraula became important witnesses in this case. Kahlo told that Major Singh said in his statement that on July 12, 1991, at around 2.30 or 3 pm, he was returning home by tractor after plowing the field. After coming out of the field, they had just come on the road that some police vehicles came behind the tractor from behind and started honking. His tractor had a winch attached to it which was sometimes going right and sometimes left, so he slowed down the tractor by turning it to the side. Police vehicles started leaving. Three or four boys were sitting in the vehicles. Seeing their long hair, I realized that they are all Sikhs. The next day the news of the killing of several Sikh youths in the encounter came to the newspapers.
The same happened with witness Milkha Singh. He too was returning home from the farm on July 12, 1991. He also saw some Sikh youths inside the police vehicles. Their hair was stained with mud, most of them did not even raise their heads.
flash back
Don’t become a witness.. That’s why Lakkha was killed
Pilibhit. In a fake encounter, innocent Lakhwinder Singh was shot dead by the police because he was afraid that he might become a government witness. Lakhwinder Singh’s elder brother Balkar Singh said that Lakhwinder Singh alias Lakkha was the fourth among the eight children of Gurmej Singh, a resident of village Jagat in Amaria block. On the insistence of going on pilgrimage, the family members sent him along with other pilgrims. Balkar Singh told that during that time Lakhwinder was studying in tenth standard. Dialogue
Had to leave the country so scared
Malkit Singh living in Vancouver got the news of the conviction of the policemen in the Pilibhit encounter case through his daughter Rupinder Kaur. Only Rupinder is living in India from his family. The Malkits, along with their two daughters and a son, had left the country in 2005 and moved to Canada. There he also got his children married. Malkit, who worked in a security company, had told at that time that he first killed the son, then the driver. There were three daughters in the house. The police wanted to prove us terrorists. Whenever there was a feeling, there used to be threats in the house. A year later in 1992, his driver was killed. He had told that he felt that the policemen would kill him too. Left UP due to this fear. Later came to Canada for the sake of the lives of the children. Dialogue
On the days of terror… the victims used to come out in disguise
