PK Jaiswar
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, August 28
Punjab Government has dismissed the services of tainted DSP Hardev Singh Boparai who was convicted by the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge last year in connection with mass suicide case in which five members of a family had ended their lives in 2004.
It took nearly one and half year for the Punjab Police to terminate his services. The order regarding his dismissal was released on August 18 which reached Amritsar rural police on Saturday. SP Headquarter, Amandeep Kaur confirmed the development while adding that the same has been noted to Amritsar central jail authorities.
Boparai was convicted for the offences punishable under Sections 465, 471, 120-B, 119, 201 and 217 of the IPC in February 2020. The orders reportedly read that he was allegedly harassing a family for money which forced the members to commit suicide. Therefore, his services have been terminated under Section 311 (2) (B) of the Indian Constitution and under 13 of Punjab Civil Services (punishment and appeal) rules 1970 from immediate effect.
Besides Boparai, the court of Additional Session Judge had convicted former DIG Kultar Singh and several relatives of the deceased. DIG was sentenced to eight years of imprisonment while DSP was handed down a four-year prison term. The court had also sentenced Hardeep’s sister Parminder Kaur, her husband Palwinder Pal Singh, Hardeep’s uncle Mohinder Singh and his daughter-in-law Subreen Kaur to eight years in jail for driving the five members to end their lives.
Hardeep Singh, a resident of Chowk Karori locality in walled city here, his wife Romi, mother Jaswant Kaur, and children Simran and Ismeet, had committed suicide by consuming poison on October 31, 2004.
The family had left a suicide note scribbled on a wall of their house besides posting a letter to their acquaintance, accusing four of their relatives and the then SSP Kultar Singh of forcing them to take the extreme step. Hardeep was allegedly being blackmailed by his relatives and Kultar Singh for having committed a crime. In 2009, Punjab Human Rights Organisation (PHRO) activist Sarabjit Singh Verka brought the matter to the court, seeking justice for the victims, while alleging that the police were not investigating the case due to involvement of senior cops despite three inquiries.
Amritsar mass suicide: Tainted DSP Hardev Singh Boparai dismissed
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