Thapar varsity student’s death: HC asks cops to probe murder

The development assumes significance since the Director General of Police (DGP) had refused to place reliance in a report prepared by its DIG,and had constituted the SIT.

DIG Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh had submitted a scathing inquiry report stating that “custodial interrogation” of those allegedly involved in the “accident” was required,and recommended registration of murder charges. Refusing to accept his recommendation report,the DGP had constituted a SIT.

Taking note of this,O P Bhatia,Deputy Secretary,Home Affairs and Justice,Punjab,had said the constitution of SIT would “lead to tampering with evidence”. Therefore,he ordered that the SIT be disbanded immediately,upholding the DIG’s “recommendation” for registration of a murder case. Even though it was disbanded,the Punjab Police produced the copy of the SIT report which negated the findings of the DIG and said the student had died in an accident. In its report,the SIT had submitted that the allegations of murder were “absolutely baseless”.

Much to the relief of Gurbax Singh Bains,the father of the deceased,and embarrassment for the Punjab DGP,the High Court has refused to take stock of the report tabled by the SIT. Instead,the High Court has held that the investigating agency will probe the case on the basis of the report of the DIG who had recommended registration of a murder case. The court has given three months’ time to the Punjab Police to probe the murder charges.

In another embarrassment for the police,the High Court has made it clear that no chargesheet will be produced in the trial court on the basis of the SIT report.

Advocate Gurbax Singh Bains had argued that since the SIT had been disbanded vide order dated January 24 this year,it had no jurisdiction to proceed further to prepare the conclusion report.

The FIR was registered at Police Station,Rajpura,Patiala,in 2010. Gurbax Singh had moved the High Court alleging that his 21-year-old son Gagandeep was “murdered” in 2010. The Punjab Police had registered a case of “rash and negligent driving” in the death of Gagandeep claiming it to be a case of accident. The “accident”,which claimed the lives of Gagandeep and his friend,occurred on September 28,2010,near Rajpura,Patiala. The case will now come up for hearing in July.