Former Punjab DGP, six others booked in 29-year-old abduction case

Former Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini and six others have been booked in a case related to the disappearance of a man after a terrorist attack here in 1991.

The case was registered against the former director general of police (DGP) and the other persons at the Mataur police station in Mohali on Wednesday evening, according to the first investigation report (FIR).

They have been booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections pertaining to abduction, causing disappearance of evidence of offence and criminal conspiracy, among others.

Hours after the case was registered, Saini was stopped by Himachal Pradesh Police after he tried to enter the hill state at 4 am on Thursday without a curfew pass amid the COVID-19-induced lockdown.

The former Punjab DGP has been booked in connection with the disappearance of Balwant Singh Multani, who was a junior engineer with the Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Corporation, according to the FIR.

Balwant Multani, who was a resident of Mohali, was picked up by police after the terrorist attack on Saini, who was then the senior superintendent of police in Chandigarh, in 1991, it said.

Saini and the six others have been booked on the complaint of Balwant Multani's brother Palwinder Singh Multani, who is a resident of Jalandhar, according to the FIR.

Six others who have been booked include former UT deputy superintendent of police Baldev Singh Saini, sub-inspectors Satbir Singh and Harsahai Sharma.

The case has been registered against them under sections 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence), 344 (wrongful confinement), 330 (voluntarily causes hurt) and 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

The complainant alleged that his brother was booked under sections of TADA, IPC and the Arms Act.

Balwant Multani was declared a proclaim offender after he reportedly escaped from police custody in Gurdaspur, his brother said in the complaint.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said there was no political motivation in the registration of an FIR against Saini in this case.

"There was no question of political interference," he said, asserting that the law will take its own course in the matter.

Police in Himachal Pradesh said Saini, who was along with two other persons in a car, tried to enter the state through the Khaira Mora check post at 4 am, but he was not allowed.

Former DGP Saini and the others were in a car with registration number CH-01-BW 0820 and they were coming from the Punjab side of the border, Bilaspur Superintendent of Police (SP) Devakar Sharma said.

Sharma said the two other persons accompanying the former DGP identified themselves as an inspector and an assistant sub-inspector to the personnel at the check post on the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border near Swarghat in Bilaspur district.

"On their insistence, the staff called the Naina Devi deputy superintendent of police who in turn called me and I directed him not to allow their entry into the hill state without a curfew pass,” he said.

Sharma said the former DGP called him after about half-an-hour insisting entry into Himahcal Pradesh stating that he had a property at Karsog in Mandi district.

Saini was refused entry without a curfew pass, the SP said.