Ludhiana: A bride-to-be was found dead in a police washroom eight years ago, and now the Punjab and Haryana high court has issued a notice of motion to the Punjab govt following allegations that it protected senior police officials from prosecution.The legal challenge follows the 2017 death of Ramandeep Kaur, 29, who was found hanging from the neck by her dupatta after being detained in what investigators claim was a “flagrant violation of arrest laws”. Dugri police had arrested the woman and her fiancé, Mukul Garg, on Aug 3, 2017, in a cyber-fraud investigation when they were to marry in Oct.Garg alleged that Ramandeep Kaur’s interrogators had tortured her in custody. On the night of Aug 4, she was found dead. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), later, determined it was a suicide by “ante-mortem hanging (death due to constriction rather than a broken neck)”, but uncovered a web of police misconduct that includes illegal detention, besides forged and missing evidence.Ramandeep Kaur had allegedly been arrested after sunset without a judicial warrant, violating Section 46(4) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Handwriting analysis shows that her signatures on the arrest memos were forged after her death to backdate her detention. Key case property — including the knife used for self-inflicting wounds on the night on detention, the dupatta, and sandals — disappeared from the police storehouse.A CBI-Govt StandoffWhile the CBI has charge-sheeted retired inspector Dalvir Singh and retired ASI (assistant sub-inspector) Manjit Singh — with a trial set to begin on May 1 — the Punjab govt has twice refused to grant the “sanction to prosecute” two higher-ranking officials.The officials in question, a retired additional deputy commissioner and a current ADCP, are accused of orchestrating the illegal detention. “There is no evidence of prior meeting of minds… Mere presence at the police station or participation in questioning… cannot attract criminal conspiracy,” additional chief secretary of home affairs Alok Shekhar said in justifying the denial of prosecution.The Punjab director general of police (DGP) supported these views, claiming no culpability was established against the senior officers. The serving ADCP refused to comment, while the retired ADCP did not respond to the calls.The Legal PetitionThe petitioner moved the high court on April 21 after the state’s second refusal to allow the senior officers to stand trial. The CBI’s charge sheet maintains that both ADCP’s were present during the illegal interrogation and “were in agreement” with the junior officers to detain the woman.During the inquiry, three junior officers charged initially were discharged for lack of evidence and have since turned state witnesses, testifying that their superiors had obtained their signatures under duress. The high court’s notice now forces the Punjab govt to justify why the senior leadership should remain immune from the proceedings surrounding Ramandeep Kaur’s death.
