Patiala: The ‘Satluj’ row has jolted Punjab Police into launching a discreet search for one of the characters portrayed in the movie — former DSP Jaspal Singh, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the 1995 abduction and murder of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra.Jaspal, who was in Nabha Open Jail, was granted bail in May 2023. Now, police are scrambling to find out where he is.Authorities at Nabha Open Jail have initiated a police ‘verification’ process for the tainted cop. Assistant jail superintendent Jaskinder Singh said he was “unaware of the specific facts”, saying that he had recently taken charge and that the convict had secured bail three years ago. Jail superintendent Chanchal Kumari could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.Jaspal’s native place was recorded as Cheema Nagar, Jalandhar, and his then current address as Majhi village of Hoshiarpur district.ASI Jaswinder Singh of Hoshiarpur Sadar police station confirmed the development to TOI. He said Nabha jail authorities had issued instructions for the ‘verification’ of the former DSP on a telephone call, and that an official email was awaited.Jaspal was the most senior of the six police personnel convicted of Khalra’s abduction and murder — SIs Amarjit Singh, Satnam Singh, Surinder Pal Singh, Jasbir Singh, and head constable Prithipal Singh.On Sept 6, 1995, Khalra, who was running a campaign against extrajudicial killings, was picked up from his Amritsar home by some Punjab Police personnel. He was never seen again. His wife, Paramjit Kaur, filed a Habeas Corpus petition, following which Supreme Court ordered a CBI probe into his disappearance.The central agency found that after his abduction, Khalra was illegally detained at Jhabal police station where he was brutally tortured. He was shot there and his body thrown into a canal near Harike.It took 10 years to bring them to justice. On Nov 18, 2005, a CBI court in Patiala convicted Jaspal and five other cops and sentenced him to life imprisonment. Punjab and Haryana high court upheld his life sentence in Oct 2007, and Supreme Court gave a finality to his conviction and life imprisonment on Nov 4, 2011, when it dismissed his appeal, condemning the incident as a “severe threat to the rule of law”.Jaspal moved for premature release in 2017 but it was rejected by the Centre. He was granted bail in May 2023. The release warrant issued by a Patiala court to the superintendent of Nabha Open Air Jail asked that Jaspal be released after he furnished bail bonds of Rs 1 lakh. Over the next three years, Jaspal faded from public memory until a movie shook things up.
