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Judicial Probe Indicts Four Bathinda Cops Over Custodial Torture
Narinderdeep Singh was a 34-year-old tutor who died in May 2025.
His family said police had picked him up and badly hurt him.
At first, the family was reportedly told that he had died in a road accident.
A judicial inquiry later said he had been held illegally and tortured by police personnel.
It said the evidence pointed to electric shocks, including to sensitive parts of his body.
The inquiry also said two senior officers failed to respond properly to the allegations.
Doctors separately said his death was caused by respiratory failure linked to drugs.
The inquiry’s findings are not criminal convictions, and the accused officers still have the right to due process.
Sukhpal Singh Khaira used the report to repeat his claim that Punjab is a “police state.”
A Bathinda judicial inquiry indicted four CIA-2 personnel over Narinderdeep Singh’s alleged illegal detention and custodial torture.
The report said injuries and other evidence pointed to electric shocks and rejected the road-accident explanation as false and contrived.
Former senior district officers Amneet Kondal and Jasmeet Singh were accused of serious supervisory and administrative failures.
An AIIMS Bathinda medical board attributed the death to respiratory failure linked to opiates and benzodiazepines.
Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira said the findings supported his political allegation that Punjab had become a “police state.”
- Who
- Narinderdeep Singh; four Bathinda CIA-2 personnel; former senior officers Amneet Kondal and Jasmeet Singh; and Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira.
- What
- A judicial inquiry found illegal detention, custodial torture and serious supervisory failures in connection with Narinderdeep Singh’s death.
- Where
- Bathinda and Goniana, Punjab; the alleged detention involved the Bathinda police CIA-2 unit.
- When
- Narinderdeep Singh died on May 23, 2025; the Sessions Judge marked the inquiry on August 8, and the report was completed on September 1, with the article referring to September 1, 2026 in its concluding account.
- Why
- The inquiry examined allegations that Narinderdeep was detained and tortured after police questioned him over suspected drug-trafficking links, and that officials later presented a false accident explanation.
Judicial Findings and Accountability
Alternative Medical and Political Interpretations
Cause and circumstances of death
Judicial Findings and Accountability
The judicial inquiry said the evidence showed illegal detention and police torture, and described the road-accident or drug-overdose account as a false and contrived explanation.
Alternative Medical and Political Interpretations
The AIIMS Bathinda medical board stated that Narinderdeep died from respiratory failure caused by the combined toxic effects of opiates and benzodiazepines; the accused personnel remain entitled to due process.
Responsibility of senior officers
Judicial Findings and Accountability
The inquiry said Amneet Kondal and Jasmeet Singh failed to ensure a prompt, impartial investigation, secure the accused personnel and pursue a higher-level or judicial inquiry.
Alternative Medical and Political Interpretations
The report’s conclusions about the senior officers concern administrative and supervisory conduct; any criminal liability must be determined through applicable criminal proceedings.
“Police state” allegation
Judicial Findings and Accountability
Sukhpal Singh Khaira, protesters and supporting organisations said the case demonstrated that Punjab had become a “police state.”
Alternative Medical and Political Interpretations
The article notes that “police state” is a political allegation, not a conclusion of the judicial inquiry, which was limited to this case and related supervisory failures.
Key facts
- Victim
- Narinderdeep Singh, a 34-year-old tutor from Goniana
- Death date
- May 23, 2025
- Accused personnel
- ASI Avtar Singh alias Tari, Head Constables Lakhwinder Singh and Harwinder Singh, and Senior Constable Gurpal Singh
- Inquiry finding
- Illegal detention and physical torture were established through witness testimony, documents and injury evidence
- Alleged method
- The report pointed to electric shocks to sensitive areas, including the head and genital area
- Senior officers cited
- Then Bathinda SSP Amneet Kondal and SP (Investigation) Jasmeet Singh
- Medical finding
- An AIIMS Bathinda medical board attributed death to respiratory failure from combined toxic effects of opiates and benzodiazepines
- Legal status
- The inquiry findings do not themselves constitute criminal convictions; criminal and departmental proceedings remain subject to due process
Quotes
Bathinda Chief Judicial Magistrate inquiry report
The judicial inquiry report prepared by Bathinda Chief Judicial Magistrate Prabhjot Bhatti.
“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 before his death, he was tortured by the police officials while keeping him in illegal custody”
thestatesman.com
“Today’s report of CJM Bathinda indicting four police officers of CIA Staff for the custodial death of 34-year-old Narinderdip Singh of Goniana confirms our allegations that have turned Punjab into a #PoliceState”
thestatesman.com
Sources
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