#Title Ex-DSP convicted in Khalra case not found at address in jail records When the Punjab government did not receive any application from the home ministry, how can the chief minister sign any file or send it to the Governor?

Hans News Service Hoshiarpur

FormerPunjab Police DSP Jaspal Singh, a life convict in the 1995 abduction and murder of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra who was released on bail in 2023, could not be found at the village address mentioned in the Nabha jail records, officials said on Friday. The verification followed a request from the prison authorities amid renewed public attention on the Khalra case after the release, and subsequent takedown, of the film ‘Satluj’ from ZEE5, which is based on the activist’s life. Assistant Sub-Inspector Jaswinder Singh of Sadar police station said the jail authorities through an official communication sought to verify if Jaspal Singh was living at Manjhi village in Hoshiarpur district, as mentioned in his jail records.

When police went to the village, the sarpanch and residents told them that Jaspal Singh was not living there, the ASI said. SHO Baljinder Singh Malhi said Jaspal Singh was released from the Nabha jail on interim bail on May 27, 2023, under a court order.

The verification established that he was not living at the address mentioned in the jail documents, he said. ‘Satluj’ starring Diljit Dosanjh Daljit as Khalra, which was earlier titled ‘Punjab ‘95’, was released on ZEE5 on July 3 before being removed from the platform two days later. Directed by Honey Trehan, the film depicts Khalra’s investigation into the “illegal” cremation of thousands of bodies claimed as “unidentified” by police during the militancy period in the state. Khalra was abducted from in front of his house in Amritsar in September 1995.

Punjab AAP media in-charge Baltej Pannu said that any application for premature release in a CBI case is decided by the Ministry of Home Affairs, and not the Punjab government. Jaspal Singh’s remission application was filed before the home ministry in 2017, which was rejected in 2018, after which the governor also rejected the plea, Pannu said. Another recommendation was forwarded to the home ministry in 2019, while similar applications of the other surviving co-convicts were rejected in 2023, he said.