THE LIST OF UNIDENTIFIED DEAD BODIES

1. Under Sl. No. 31/31, the list shows one 06 September 1987 cremation carried out by the Lopoke police station. The FIR No. is not mentioned. The postmortem report is marked as AKL/FM/112/87. The cause of death is given as "police encounter".
The Committee's Incident-Report Form No. CCDP/00071 reveals the following information about the cremation.
Twenty-year old Savinder Singh, son of Joginder Singh and Balvir Kaur, lived in Bagge Khurd village, post office Bagge Kalan, in Ajnala subdivision of Amritsar district. He was an Amritdhari Sikh and an activist of the Sikh Students Federation. According to Joginder Singh, the main informant in this case, he had never been arrested or charged with any crime before his disappearance.
On the 1st or 2nd of September 1987, the police arrested Savinder Singh as he exited the Golden Temple complex at Amritsar that housed the main office of the Sikh Students Federation. The arrest was witnessed by many of his companions who then informed his parents about it.
Joginder Singh immediately sent a telegram to the DGP of Punjab. Two days later, while waiting to meet Dalbir Singh Ravike, a former Member of the Legislative Assembly [MLA], Joginder Singh read a report in the Punjabi daily newspaper Ajit, which said that the police had killed Savinder Singh in an encounter near village Mado Ke Brar. Joginder Singh requested Dalbir Singh Ravike to persuade the police officials to hand over the dead body to the family for its cremation. The former legislator refused to court embarrassment by making a request that the police, in his knowledge, would not fulfil.
In January 1988, a DSP from Rambagh police station in Amritsar called on Joginder Singh at his house to make inquiries about the killing of his son. The DSP took a copy of the newspaper report about Savinder's death and asked Joginder Singh to come to Rambagh police station to lodge his complaint. Joginder Singh, accompanied by a member of the village council, went to the DSP who recorded his statement and asked him to sign it. Joginder Singh and his companion could not read or write. But he was forced to sign without knowing what the written statement said.
For the next three years, the police continued to harass Joginder Singh, confiscating valuable household goods and not permitting him to cultivate his land. He was also detained illegally several times and forced to bribe the officials for his release. According to Joginder Singh, he has suffered a loss of over Rs. 250,000 from these exactions. His wife Balvir Kaur has become chronically depressed.

2. Under Sl. No. 329/235, the list shows one 11 November 1991 cremation carried out by ASI Baldev Singh of Mehta police station under the FIR No. 151/91. The postmortem report is marked as 11.11.1991. The cause of death is given to be "bullet injuries".
The Committee's Incident-Report Form No. CCDP/00081 reveals the following information about the cremation.
Sardara Singh, son of Boor Singh and Dalip Kaur, was a small farmer resident of Kale Ke, post office Khilchian, in Baba Bakala subdivision of Amritsar district. He and his wife Ranjit Kaur, the main informant in this case, had one daughter and one son. According to Ranjit Kaur, her husband had no connection with the militant movement.
In the morning of 11 October 1991, around 10:30 a.m., Sardara Singh was returning home from purchasing some groceries from a shop in the village. Meanwhile, a large group of Punjab police officers from Mehta police station, together with a unit of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), had started a combing operation in the village. Sardara Singh was taken into custody on suspicion and later shot dead in a faked encounter.
The police carried out the cremation without informing the family. Ranjit Kaur, saddled with the responsibility of raising her young children, has since been working as a domestic servant in the houses of some well-to-do families in the village.

3 - 4: Under Sl. Nos. 390/600 and 391/601, the list shows two 19 December 1991 cremations carried out by SHO Teg Bahadur Singh of Goindwal police station under FIR No. 50/91. The post-mortem reports are marked as KK-19/91 and PS-84/91. The cause of death is given as "firearm injuries".
The Committee's Incident-Report Form No. CCDP/00115 reveals the following information about one of these cremations.
Sukhwinder Singh alias Shindu, son of Gian Singh Nambardar, the village revenue collector, and Jagir Kaur from Pachhware Wala Khuh locality of Mallian village, in Tarn Taran sub-division of Amritsar district, was a 23-year old youth. He was unmarried and worked as a laborer in Punjab State Electricity Board. His father Gian Singh is the main informant in this case.
On 13 December 1991, Sukhwinder Singh accompanied by Lakhwinder Singh, son of Bachan Singh, went to Munda Pind village, on a tractor trolley, to do some shopping. While returning, they were apprehended by the police of Munda Pind Police Post and handed over to Goindwal Sahib police. SHO Tegh Bahadur of Goindwal Sahib Police Station and Head Constable Rachhpal Singh personally supervised Sukhwinder's interrogation under torture during the course of his illegal detention for five days. The family members regularly visited him in the police station and served him food. Gian Singh met his son at Goindwal police station for the last time on 16 December 1991.
Gian Singh, along with several other village elders had been talking to SHO Tegh Bahadur Singh to get Sukhwinder released from his custody. The SHO demanded a bribe of Rs. 200,000 for Sukhwinder's release. Gian Singh, a small farmer, was unable to raise such a large amount and beseeched the SHO to release his son for Rs. 50,000. The SHO turned down the offer.
Gian Singh was still struggling to raise the amount, demanded by the SHO for his son's release when on 19 December 1991, several Punjabi newspapers reported the killing of Sukhwinder Singh and another unidentified militant in a supposed armed encounter with the police force. The cremation was carried out without the family's knowledge.

5 - 7: Under Sl. Nos. 512/291, 513/292 and 514/293, the list shows three 01 October 1992 cremations carried out by the SHO of Lopoke police station under FIR No. 43/92. The postmortem reports are marked as AST/FM/19/92, AST/FM/20/92 and AST/FM/21/92. The cause of death is given to be "police encounter".
The Committee's Incident-Report Form No. CCDP/00125 reveals the following information about one of these cremations.
Tweny-one year old Halvinder Singh, son of Inderjit Singh and Rashpal Kaur, resident of Kakkar village under Lopoke police station in Amritsar district, was a constable of the Punjab police posted in Batala subdivision of Gurdaspur district. He was married to Gurmeet Kaur.
According to Rashpal Kaur, the main informant in this case, Halvinder had no links with political or militant organizations. In early 1992, Halvinder received several messages from members of the militant underground telling him to either resign from the police service or to face the consequences. Halvinder got scared and absented himself from duty for the next two to three months. In July/August 1992, the village elders took Halvinder to the SSP Batala and explained to him the reasons for his absence. The SSP said that he understood and asked Halvinder to rejoin his duty.
On 8 September 1992, Halvinder came home on a short leave. On 9 September 1992, around 11 a.m., a group of officers from Lopoke Police Station, led by ASI Surinder Singh, arrested Halvinder in the presence of his family members and took him to Lopoke police station. Halvinder's father Inderjit Singh followed them to the police station where he was allowed to meet his son and also give him some food. Halvinder handed over his Identity Card and his money purse to him. ASI Surinder Singh then advised Inderjit Singh to come back to the police station the next morning along with members of his village council to take his son back.
Inderjit Singh went back to Lopoke police station early in the morning of 10 September 1992 and met SHO Dharam Singh who said that his son had been arrested on instructions from the SSP and that his interrogation was not yet complete. The SHO allowed him to briefly meet his son in the lock-up. Halvinder was in very bad shape from torture inflicted on him in the course of his interrogation. Halvinder explained that his superiors accused him of keeping weapons for the militants and wanted him to confess his connections with them.
Inderjit Singh continued to visit the police station for the next five days and was unable to meet his son. The SHO said that SSP Paramjit Singh Gill of Amritsar was personally supervising his interrogation. Halvinder was never seen alive again. Several weeks later, SHO Dharam Singh asked Inderjit Singh to stop bothering him for information and to carry out the last religious rites for his son. Inderjit understood that Halvinder had been killed. He requested his friend Kishan Bhagwan Singh, a retired Major of the Indian army, to meet with SSP Paramjit Singh Gill; he confirmed that Halvinder Singh had indeed been killed in an "encounter" along with two others.

8. Under Sl. No. 194/267, the list shows an 11 March 1992 cremation carried out by the ASI of the Civil Lines police station. The list does not show the FIR number. The postmortem report is marked as ND/FM/249/92 and the cause of death is given to be "police encounter".
The Committee's Incident-Report Form No. CCDP/00126 reveals the following information about the cremation.
Twenty-seven year old Manjit Singh alias Billa, son of Iqbal Singh and Sukhjinder Kaur, was a young farmer resident of village Nangali under Sadar police station in Amritsar district. Manjit had spent some years in Germany and had returned home to help his father with his agricultural work. He was unmarried and his father, a former police officer, is the main informant in this case.
Manjit's father Iqbal Singh had joined the Punjab police as a constable in 1959 and, after serving the force for 31 years, had taken voluntary retirement in 1990. In this period, he had been posted in several districts of Punjab including Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur and Amritsar. Iqbal Singh took early retirement from the police force primarily for the reason that he could not tolerate the custodial atrocities his superiors and fellow policemen committed on common Sikhs and their use of their powers to extort money by taking innocent persons into illegal custody and forcing their relatives either to pay or to risk their arbitrary execution. He was particularly appalled by crimes routinely committed by his fellow policemen when he was posted at Amritsar's Joint Interrogation Center in the period from 1981 to 1983. According to Iqbal Singh, unscrupulous elements within the police force used the situation of violent unrest in Punjab to not only make money but also to obtain speedy promotions by killing innocent persons and labeling them as terrorists. Iqbal Singh had worked directly under SHO Ajaib Singh of Amritsar's Sadar police station who had joined the police force as a constable but rose to become a Deputy Superintendent of Police. According to Iqbal Singh, the majority of lower officials committed atrocities on illegally detained persons on instructions from their superiors. However, there were several officials who tortured and killed their captives to make money and to impress their superiors about their anti-insurgency zeal and then obtain promotions and perks. According to Iqbal Singh, SHO Ajaib Singh of Amritsar's Sadar police station was one such person.
For these reasons, Iqbal Singh took early retirement. His eldest son, whose name we shall not reveal, had already joined the Punjab police and is still serving the force in a sensitive position. His younger son Manjit Singh went to Germany for some years, but then came to help his father with the agricultural work as his health had begun to deteriorate.
Early in the morning of 24 February 1992, a large police force from Amritsar's Sadar police station, supported by some personnel of the CRPF, raided Iqbal Singh's house and took Manjit away to Sadar police station for an interrogation. The arrest, led by ASI Santokh Singh and Head Constable Gurbachan Singh, was witnessed by many villagers.
The same afternoon, Iqbal Singh, along with his sympathizers, met SHO Ajaib Singh who spoke to him in a very friendly way and assured him not to worry about his son. He also allowed him to meet Manjit in the police lock-up and give him food. Five days later, SHO Ajaib Singh told Iqbal Singh that he had to pay Rs. 500,000 to get his son released from police custody. Taken aback by the demand, Iqbal Singh reminded the SHO of the time they had spent together working for the police force. He also told the SHO that his son was innocent and he was not in a position to raise half a million rupees. The SHO said that his superiors would not release anyone without collecting money and it did not matter whether or not his son was innocent. Iqbal Singh promised to collect as much money as possible within the shortest possible period of time to get his son released.
Iqbal Singh also sent telegrams to several senior police officials and other government functionaries informing them about the illegal arrest of his son. He met the SSP of Amritsar and the DIG of the Range to demand that his son be either released from illegal custody or produced before a court. He, however, did not inform them about SHO Ajaib Singh's demand for half a million rupees from fear that the SHO might harm his son. His meetings with the senior officials had no impact on rescuing his son from illegal police custody.
Iqbal Singh was able to raise approximately Rs. 200,000/- within twenty days after his son's arrest and offered the amount to SHO Ajaib Singh who rudely told him that he was too late and that he should forget about his younger son. SHO Ajaib Singh warned him not to talk about the episode to anyone if he cared for the safety of other members of his family.
Iqbal Singh was unable to even find out how his son had been killed and his body disposed. Iqbal Singh was unable to initiate any legal action from the fear that Ajaib Singh and his superiors involved in abducting and disappearing his younger son might also eliminate his elder son who was working for the Punjab police.

9 - 11: Under Sl. Nos. 257/196, 258/197 and 259/198, the list shows three 09 June 1991 cremations carried out by the SHO of Beas police station under FIR No. 119/91. The postmortem reports are marked as 09.6.1991, SS/FM/243/91 and SS/FM/244/91 9.6.1991. The cause of death is given to be "bullet injuries".
The Committee's Incident-Report Form No. CCDP/00138 reveals the following information about these cremations.
Twenty-five year old Lakhwinder Singh alias Lakha, son of Bua Singh and Bachan Kaur, was a Punjab police constable resident of village Gehri Mandi, under police station Jandiala Guru, in Amritsar district. A college graduate who joined the police force in 1987, Lakhwinder was unmarried. His uncle Bachan Singh is the main informant in this case.
On 9 June 1991, several newspapers, including Ajit, Jagbani and Punjab Kesari published a report about Lakhwinder's killing in a police encounter near village Daule Nangal under Beas police station. According to the newspaper report, published on the basis of a statement issued by SSP Paramjit Singh Gill, police constable Lakhwinder Singh was killed along with two other militants belonging to the Khalistan Commando Force. The SSP in his statement identified the two other two militants as [1] Sukhdev Singh, son of Gurbachan Singh, resident of Dhadian village, under Beas police station, and [2] Dilbagh Singh, son of Darshan Singh, resident of Sangha village in Tarn Taran subdivision of Amritsar district. The press reports referred to claims made by the SSP that Lakhwinder was responsible for 40 cases of murder and Dilbagh Singh, described as the Area Commander of the Khalistan Commando Force, for 50 cases of murder.
According to Lakhwinder's uncle Bachan Singh, the police handed over the dead bodies to their relatives who carried out the cremations.
It is indeed extraordinary that the CBI has placed these cremations, clearly identified in the newspaper reports and the SSP's statement published on 9 June 1991, in its list of unidentified cremations. It is also not clear how these cremations figure in the CBI's list of illegal cremations carried out by the Punjab police if the dead bodies had indeed been returned to the family members.