A special CBI court in Mohali on Thursday, November 12, sentenced former Tarn Taran Senior Superintendent of Police Gurmeet Singh Randhawa to seven years in prison in the 1992 abduction and disappearance case of Ludhiana transporter Amrik Singh Sakri, bringing a legal battle of nearly 34 years to its sentencing stage.

Source: Mirror Now

The court had convicted Randhawa on Wednesday, November 11, under Sections 365 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code — abduction with intent to secretly and wrongfully confine a person, and criminal conspiracy. Special Judge Dinesh Kumar Wadhwa acquitted co-accused constable Parminderjit Singh, giving him the benefit of the doubt, and the court pronounced the quantum of sentence on Thursday.

Source: Face2News, Mohali

Background: a disappearance from a wedding in 1992

Amrik Singh Sakri, a transporter from Ludhiana, was attending a family wedding at Hotel Amaltas in Ludhiana on November 25, 1992, when a Punjab Police team from Tarn Taran allegedly took him away. He was never seen again. At the time of the abduction, Randhawa was serving as a Deputy Superintendent of Police; he was later promoted and retired as an SSP. The then Tarn Taran SSP, Ajit Singh Sandhu, was named as the main accused in the alleged conspiracy and died during the proceedings.

Source: Face2News, Mohali

The case reached the CBI after a Supreme Court order of November 15, 1995, in the Paramjeet Kaur versus State of Punjab writ petition, following an affidavit by Sakri's son Devinder Singh. The CBI began a preliminary inquiry in January 1999, registered a regular case in February 2000, and filed a chargesheet in 2001 against five police personnel: Gurmeet Singh Randhawa, Inspector Suba Singh, Sub-Inspector Surinder Singh, Constable Parminderjit Singh alias Babbu, and Assistant Sub-Inspector Jaswant Singh.

Source: Face2News, Mohali

Proceedings against three of the accused ended following their deaths during the long proceedings, and the trial itself could begin only in 2022 after petitions before higher courts stalled it for years. Particle News, summarising the case record, also confirmed that the court pronounced the seven-year sentence on Thursday, November 12.

Source: Particle News

What happens next

Thursday's order fixes Randhawa's punishment at seven years' imprisonment. No statement from Randhawa's side on an appeal had been reported at the time of publishing; a convicted person may challenge both conviction and sentence before the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The case is one of the long-running prosecutions arising from alleged illegal detentions and disappearances in Punjab during the militancy period.