Ludhiana, Punjab (April 14, 2013): According to a news report published at the website of Times of India (TOI): “[t]he custodial disappearance of Devinderpal Singh Bhullar’s father and uncle is believed to have been a turning point in his life”.
It must be noted here that Professor Bhullar’s father Balwant Singh and uncle Manjit Singh Sohi were gazetted officers with the Government of India. Duo were picked up in December 1991 after cops could not find Professor Bhullar as they were looking for him in connection with an attack on an IPS officer. It is worth mentioning that Prof. Bhullar was later discharged by the trial court in this case on account of complete absence of evidence against him..
“Bhullar, who then taught at a Ludhiana polytechnic college, immediately went underground three months after he had married Navneet Kaur in September 1991” TOI news report added.
“He later fled to Germany on a fake passport after his name figured in the car bomb attack on then Youth Congress leader Maninderjit Singh Bitta in 1993. Bhullar was deported and tried in the case that eventually led to his conviction”, it reads furhter.
“The turn of events shocked his colleagues and friends, who remember the mechanical engineering graduate from Ludhiana’s Guru Nanak Engineering College as a studious man, who loved hockey” TOI reports reads further.
“I was at the engineering college at the same time. We never heard any radical views from him, unlike many other students who showed strong political leanings,” a Guru Nanak Engineering College alumnus, is quoted to have said by TOI.
A former colleague reportedly said, “Even when he was teaching and militancy was at its peak, we did not hear anything about him”.
The news reports has concluded that Professor Davinderpal Singh Bhullar was among many bright young men, who got involved in militancy in Punjab.
It is worth mentioning here that Balwinder Singh Multani Professor Bhullar’s friend, who was son of an IAS officer was also secretly killed by Punjab police during enforced disappearance in 1991. No trial has taken place against the culprit cops.
The CBI, in it’s investigation had concluded that there were bundles of proofs against cops, including Punjab DGP Sumedh Saini, in enforced disappearance and murder of Prof. Bhullar’s father, uncle and friend.
CBI had recommended the registration of FIR and initiation of investigations and trial in 2008; but the Supreme court of India on December 07, 2011 had rejected the CBI inquiry on “technical” grounds. The Supreme Court deliberated suffered failure to take suo-moto notice of the matter and order fresh investigation. The culprit cops have enjoyed impunity and are occupying top police posts.