Gyrmeet Singh former SSP and Amrik Singh
Mohali special CBI court ordered the five-year term for kidnapping and the two-year term for criminal conspiracy to run concurrently.
MOHALI: A special CBI court in Mohali on Thursday sentenced former Punjab Police Senior Superintendent of Police Gurmeet Singh Randhawa to an effective five years in prison and imposed a fine of ₹75,000 in the 1992 abduction and disappearance of Ludhiana transporter Amrik Singh Shakri. Randhawa was posted as Deputy Superintendent of Police (Detective) in Tarn Taran at the time of the incident.
Special CBI Judge Dinesh Kumar Wadhwa awarded Randhawa five years’ imprisonment and a ₹50,000 fine under Section 365 of the Indian Penal Code for kidnapping or abduction with intent to secretly and wrongfully confine a person. The court also imposed a two-year term and a ₹25,000 fine under Section 120-B for criminal conspiracy. The two sentences will run concurrently, making the effective prison term five years. Randhawa appeared for sentencing by video conference.
Picked up from a wedding in Ludhiana
According to the CBI investigation, a Tarn Taran police team took Shakri away from Hotel Amaltas in Ludhiana on November 25, 1992, while he was attending his niece’s wedding. He never returned home. His family approached senior police officers and sent telegrams to several authorities, including then Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, seeking his release and information about his whereabouts.
Shakri’s wife moved the Supreme Court in 1996 with a habeas corpus petition seeking his production. The Punjab government told the court that Shakri had died and submitted notices announcing a bhog ceremony in support of its claim. The family disputed the government’s account. The Supreme Court subsequently directed the CBI to investigate.
One acquitted, three died during proceedings
The CBI registered the case in February 2000 and filed a chargesheet against five police personnel in 2001. The trial began in 2022. Of the 47 witnesses cited by the agency, only 16 testified. Several died before they could give evidence.
The court convicted Randhawa on Wednesday and acquitted co-accused Constable Parminderjit Singh, alias Babbu, for lack of evidence. Proceedings against Inspector Suba Singh, Sub-Inspector Surinder Singh and Assistant Sub-Inspector Jaswant Singh ended following their deaths. At the request of the complainant’s counsel, the court referred the matter to the District Legal Services Authority for consideration of compensation.