Nakodar police firing: Families demand SIT, ATR in assembly

JALANDHAR: Families of four youths killed in police firing at Nakodar on February 4, 1986, have demanded that the Punjab government act on the Justice Gurnam Singh inquiry commission report and prosecute the guilty police officers. They said that the Congress government should present an action taken report (ATR) on in the state assembly. While demanding formation of a special investigation team (SIT) to book and prosecute guilty cops, they have also sought probe into the roles of then Jalandhar ADC Darbara Singh Guru and SSP Izhar Alam, both senior SAD leaders now.
Addressing a joint press conference here, the families also asked former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal why was the report presented in the assembly secretly in 2001, and why no action was initiated against the police officers indicted by the commission. They have alleged that in his election manifesto Badal had promised justice for the Sikh youths killed by the police but after coming to power in 1997, he protected and promoted the “Sajjan Kumars and Jagdish Tytlers” of Punjab.
Late Ravinder Singh’s father Baldev Singh, Baldhir Singh’s sister Karamjeet Kaur, and Jhalman Singh’s sister Rajwinder Kaur were present. They said that the sister of the fourth victim Harminder Singh could not come as she had to go out of the city.
The two women said that only Ravinder’s parents were surviving while parents of other three victims had already passed away. “Our parents died while always remembering their son as they could not see even their dead bodies., which police cremated on a single pyre hurriedly in the morning of February 5, 1986. This despite the fact that the police had already been identified them. “We came to know that they have been killed in police firing after they were cremated and only Baldev Singh could see their faces,” said Karamjeet and Rajwinder.
“My brother’s turban and college notebooks were brought to our home by his friend Jagjit Singh Samipur and my mother would often cry when looked at his turban, which we preserved,” she said. “Samipur also narrated the eyewitness account,” she said.
Baldev said that he was there at the civil hospital. “I saw the four and blessed all of them on their heads and even performed ardaas. But police then hurriedly took them away to a cremation ground even before 8am on February 5, and when I reached the cremation ground their common fire was already burning. The mind set of the civil and police officials came out not only at that time but later a SP said in the presence of political leaders and SSP Alam and IG GIS Bhullar that they had not what ever they were to do. On this late Ajit Singh Kohar, who was then a local Akali leader, publicly slapped the SP for his obnoxious comment,” he said.
“Guru ordered post mortem of the dead youths in the night. Both Guru and Alam for their role as firing was unprovoked and there was no curfew at the place where these youths were gunned down,” he said.
He also said that according to eyewitnesses, Harminder was killed after his capture from a saw mill as he had escaped the police firing. He had alleged that he was killed in custody.