Amrik Singh missing case: Ex-police officer Gurmeet Singh sentenced to 7 years in jail

In the nearly 34-year-old case involving the detention and disappearance of Ludhiana transporter Amrik Singh Sakri, a special court in Mohali has sentenced former Punjab Police officer Gurmeet Singh Randhawa to 7 years in jail after finding him guilty.

Another accused named in this trial, Parminderjit Singh, has been acquitted due to lack of concrete evidence. At the time of the incident, Gurmeet Singh Randhawa was posted as a DSP in Tarn Taran and later got promoted to SSP.

The main accused in the case, then SSP Ajit Singh Sandhu and three other police personnel, have already passed away during the hearing and investigation.

According to CBI investigation, on November 25, 1992, Amrik Singh was present at a family function in a Ludhiana hotel. At that time, the Tarn Taran police took him into custody, after which he never returned home.

The family had appealed to the government and senior police officers at the time, but no hearing took place. In 1996, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court by Amrik Singh's wife. The state government had told the court that he had died, but the family rejected this claim.

Following this, on the orders of the country's apex court, the investigation into the cremation of unclaimed bodies and missing persons cases was handed over to the CBI. The investigative agency registered a case against the police personnel in 2000 and filed a chargesheet in 2001.

During the trial, important records went missing from the court files, which were recreated following High Court directions, allowing the trial to regain momentum in 2022.

Key developments

• Transporter Amrik Singh was taken into police custody from a Ludhiana hotel on November 25, 1992.
• After Supreme Court intervention, the CBI registered a case and filed a chargesheet in 2001.
• Four police personnel, including main accused former SSP Ajit Singh Sandhu, have died during the trial.
• Mohali special court sentenced Gurmeet Singh Randhawa to 7 years in prison, while acquitting another accused.