States » NorthPosted at: Sep 21 2026 9:13PM


SPECIAL | Punjab a ‘Police State’? Judicial Probe Indicts 4 Bathinda Cops Over Torture, Electric Shocks; Khaira Says Findings Vindicate Charge

Neeraj Bali
Chandigarh, Sep 21 (UNI) - A judicial inquiry into the death of a 34-year-old tutor has indicted four Bathinda police personnel for illegal detention and custodial torture, including the alleged use of electric shocks on sensitive parts of his body, and has separately accused two then senior district police officers of “grave dereliction of duty”, reviving political allegations over police excesses in Punjab.
The 18-page inquiry report by Bathinda Chief Judicial Magistrate Prabhjot Bhatti concerns the death of Narinderdeep Singh, a resident of Goniana who worked as a tutor and died in mysterious circumstances on May 23, 2025. The inquiry was completed on September 1 this year, and the report submitted to the Bathinda Sessions Judge.
The four personnel indicted by the inquiry are Assistant Sub-Inspector Avtar Singh alias Tari, Head Constable Lakhwinder Singh, Head Constable Harwinder Singh and Senior Constable Gurpal Singh, who were associated with Bathinda police's CIA-2 unit at the time.
“This court, after taking into account the statements of the witnesses as well as documents, concludes that the illegal detention of the deceased... as well as the multiple injuries upon the person of the deceased, would point out that he was tortured by the police officials,” the report said. The chain of circumstances pointed to the use of electric shocks on sensitive parts of Narinderdeep's body, including his head and genital area shortly before he was brought dead to Shaheed Bhai Mani Singh Civil Hospital in Bathinda.
The account initially given to Narinderdeep's family that he had died in a road accident was found to be false, intended to shield those responsible.
On the conduct of then Bathinda Senior Superintendent of Police Amneet Kondal and then Superintendent of Police (Investigation) Jasmeet Singh, who were informed on May 24, 2025, of custodial torture, the report said they failed to ensure a prompt, impartial, and independent investigation, failed to immediately arrest the accused officials, and discouraged a higher-level or judicial inquiry.
“Their dereliction has contributed materially to the continuation of impunity and amounts to serious administrative and supervisory misconduct warranting strict departmental action,” the report said.
Narinderdeep and his acquaintance Gagandeep Singh had been returning from Ferozepur following a financial transaction when CIA personnel intercepted them and questioned them over suspected links to drug trafficking, according to the case material cited in the judicial inquiry. The case file said nothing was recovered from them.
The case took a dramatic turn the following day.
On May 24, Gagandeep went live on Facebook and alleged that both he and Narinderdeep had been tortured by CIA personnel. He further alleged that police personnel had forced him to tell Narinderdeep's family that the latter had died in a road accident.
Narinderdeep's father, Ranjit Singh, also accused CIA-2 personnel of picking up his son and subjecting him to severe third-degree torture.
The family's allegations led to the filing of the case as culpable homicide not amounting to murder and the.
However, the medical evidence added another layer of complexity to the case. A medical board at AIIMS Bathinda attributed Narinderdeep's death to respiratory failure caused by the combined toxic effects of opiates and benzodiazepines. The judicial inquiry, however, considered the medical findings together with witness statements, injury marks, and documentary evidence and concluded that Narinderdeep had been physically tortured in illegal police custody.
On May 30, 2025, Goniana Mandi observed a shutdown after Narinderdeep's family called for action with Narinderdeep's wife, Nancy, leading the protest. Protests continued till June.
Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal also visited Narinderdeep's family at the time and demanded an independent investigation, compensation for the family and a government job for one of its members.
Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira, reacting to the judicial findings on Monday, said in a social media post: “Today’s report of CJM Bathinda confirms our allegations that Punjab has been turned into a #PoliceState.”
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Tags: #SPECIAL | Punjab a ‘Police State’? Judicial Probe Indicts 4 Bathinda Cops Over Torture# Electric Shocks; Khaira Says Findings Vindicate Charge
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