Press Note on Mass Illegal Cremations
16 January 1995
HUMAN RIGHTS WING (S.A.D.)
HEAD OFFICE: KOTHI NO. 30, Sec. 5, Chandigarh-160005 (INDIA)
Ph. (0172) 541244 P.P.
Ref. No. 103/95
“Disappeared:” Cremation Grounds
The cases of "disappeared" persons has been a source of constant concern for all human rights groups working in Punjab. An estimated 2000 families from the district of Amritsar alone, wait agonisingly for the return of their near and dear ones. Some families, who cannot bear the uncertainty any more, just want to know if their son, brother, husband or daughter is dead or alive so that they can perform the last religious rites and accept the tragedy as the will of God.
The Human Rights Wing (HRW) of the Shiromani Akali Dal constituted a two member team to investigate into the matter and try to get some leads, at least to the "disappearances". The investigation team came across some astounding facts which are being released as under.
Some families, who cannot bear the uncertainty any more, just want to know if their son, brother, husband or daughter is dead or alive so that they can perform the last religious rites and accept the tragedy as the will of God. The investigation team decided to work in the Amritsar area and its neighboring police districts. It was learnt that the police regularly bring bodies to the municipality grounds for cremation, declaring them as unclaimed. The team found that 400 unclaimed bodies had been brought for cremation to the Patti municipality cremation grounds. Bodies brought to the Patti municipal committee's cremation grounds came from as far as Khalra - 40 Kms, Kairon - 10 Kms, Harike - 15 Kms, Valtoha - 30 Kms, Bhiki - 25 Kms. 700 unclaimed bodies to the Tarn Taran municipality cremation grounds. The only record of these unclaimed bodies is available from the receipt book through which firewood was issued for the disposal of the bodies. The receipt book has the date and number of bodies brought, recorded on it.
In Amritsar district, the maximum unclaimed bodies brought for cremation was to the cremation grounds near the Durgiana Mandir. From 1st June 1984 to the end of 1994 about 2000 bodies have been cremated as unclaimed. The officials of the Durgiana Mandir cremation grounds expressed their inability to show any records, but suggested that details will be available with the Amritsar registrar of Births and Deaths. The details which could be gathered at the registrar's office are given below.
During the 1st year of the Govt. of Mr. Beant Singh, 300 unclaimed bodies were brought to the Durgiana Mandir cremation grounds by the police department. Out of these 300 bodies names of 112 have been given and the rest were declared as unidentified. 41 persons have been recorded to have died of bullet injuries or police encounters. No reason has been recorded for the cause of the death of 259 persons. Postmortems were conducted only on 24 bodies by the Amritsar Medical College. No postmortem was conducted on 276 bodies. 5 bodies of females, as per the record, out of which 3 names have been recorded. The details of the 3 female bodies are:- Harpal Kaur, Village Dhulka. Dated 25.12.92. Achint Kaur & companion. Dated 30.9.92.
Two bodies are those of Kashmiris of Sopore, cause of death, 'encounter. One unclaimed body is from near Chamkaur Sahib, in Ropar district.
Baghel Singh alias Gurdarshan Singh of village Deriwal was nabbed by the Punjab Police in Bihar. News of his "arrest" was reported in the Punjab press. Various organizations in Punjab apprehended him being eliminated in a faked encounter. This was around the last week of Nov/first week of Dec/91. On the 19.1.92, the police knowing fully well the identity of Baghel Singh and his village, brought his body to the Durgiana Mandir cremation grounds for cremation as unidentified and unclaimed.
Mr. Piara Singh s/o Shingara Singh, Director of Central Co-operative Bank in Amritsar, paternal uncle of Harminder Singh Sultanwind (Militant), Mr. Piara Singh had gone to a relative's farm in Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh. One morning, a jeep drove up to the farm house, a team of doctors attired in white coats, sporting stethoscopes approached the residents of the farm requesting them that a V.I.P. was coming to the neighboring village to inaugurate a Govt. medical clinic and some respectable citizens should also grace the occasion. They requested Mr. Piara Singh to come with them. Mr. Piara Singh ended up at the Durgiana Mandir cremation ground on 16-12-92.
Mr. Pargat Singh "Bullet" was undergoing treatment at the Guru Nanak Hospital Amritsar. He was abducted by the Raja Sansi police and his "unidentified" body was brought to the Durgiana Mandir cremation grounds on 3-11-92.
As per the Punjab Police Rules No. 3, Rule 25.38 in Chapter XXV states the procedure to be adopted in cases of dead bodies which are unidentified. The rule is quoted as below: 25.38. If a body is unidentified, the officer making the investigation shall record a careful description of it, giving all marks, peculiarities, deformities and distinctive features, shall take the finger impressions and in addition to taking all other reasonable steps to secure identification, shall, if possible, have it photographed and in case where such action appears desirable, a description published in the criminal Intelligence Gazette.
Unidentified corpses should be handed over to any charitable society which is willing to accept them, and if no such society comes forward, they should then be buried or burned.
What is surprising is that the police has given the identity of the body and also the village and yet disposed of the body as "unidentified" or "unknown". The police has not bothered to give the nature of deaths.
HRW would like to add here that this disposal of bodies is in addition to bodies that are weighed down and dumped into the various rivers and canals.
HRW places on record details of just a few cremation grounds. Similar will be the picture from the remaining cremation grounds.
HRW demands that keeping in view the seriousness of the case in mind, the High Court order a CBI inquiry into the matter, and the deaths placed on record. So that the agonising wait of thousands of families may end. Dependents can get death certificates issued so that those who were employed, can proceed with the departmental formalities.
The investigation team comprised of Mr. Jaswant Singh Khalra and Jaspal Singh Dhillon.
Sd/---
Jaswant Singh Khalra
Jaspal Singh Dhillon
