New Delhi, December 6: More than 12 years after Punjab Inspector-General of Police (Economic Offences Wing) Sumedh Singh Saini and three others were accused of abducting two businessmen, a special Delhi court today ordered them to be present in the court on 16 December for framing of charges. The case pertains to the “disappearance” and illegal detention of two Ludhiana businessmen and a driver in 1994, during the tenure of Saini as SSP Ludhiana.

The court has asked Saini, SS Sandhu, Paramjit Singh and BC Tiwari to be present in the court. In his 70-page order, Special Judge Vinod Goel said Saini (then SSP of Ludhiana), Sandhu (then SP Ludhiana) Singh (then SHO Focal Point) and Tiwari (then SHO Kotwali) were liable to be charged under Section 120 (B) (Criminal Conspiracy) and also for abduction (Section 364) and wrongful confinement (Section 341, 342). Also, substantive charge is to be framed against accused Saini under Section 364.

The court observed that there was evidence to show that Saini wanted cooperation of victim Vinod Kumar and his family members to implicate Saini Motors to ruin them financially. Since Kumar refused to do so, he was threatened with detention or liquidation by Saini and no explanation has come from Saini on this point at any point of time, it said.

“Saini being the SSP of Ludhiana was at the helm of affairs of the police administration and is supposed to have influence over the police personnel working there in any capacity in the entire district of Ludhiana, including SS Sandhu, Paramjit Singh and BC Tiwari. The court feels that a strong prima facie case is made out against the accused that they had entered into a criminal conspiracy in pursuance of which Paramjit Singh confined Ashish Kumar, Pramod Kumar and others in illegal detention and also abducted Vinod Kumar, Ashok Kumar and Mukhtiyar Singh on 15 March 1994 with the intention to murder them,” Goel said in his order.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered the case on 18 April 1994 under Sections 342, 365 and 120 B of the IPC on the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The prosecution case was that Saini, then SSP Ludhiana, was having strained relations with his relatives Narender Saini and Meenakshi Saini, owners of Saini Motors. SS Saini adopted vindictive attitude towards them and as a result of animosity, several criminal cases were registered against the partners of Saini Motors during his tenure, the CBI added.

The case was transferred to Delhi in 2004 on the orders of the Supreme Court.

What happened 12 years ago

According to the prosecution, on 15 March 1994, Vinod Kumar — a partner of Saini Motors — along with his driver Mukhtiyar Singh was abducted from Chandigarh by SS Sandhu and other unidentified police personnel. Ashok Kumar, brother-in-law of Vinod Kumar, was abducted from the latter’s house in Ludhiana on the same day. The CBI said the three were untraceable and their whereabouts not known despite all efforts made since then. The CBI filed the chargesheet in May 2000.