KULDEEP SINGH WAS DISMISSED AFTER A COURT MARTIAL FOUND HIM GUILTY OF SPYING AND COMMITTING THEFT OF ARMY PROPERTY
CHANDIGARH: The Chandigarh Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal has come down heavily on Punjab Police and asked the state police chief to get the absconding Pakistan spy Kuldeep Singh arrested.
Kuldeep was dismissed from the army after a court martial found him guilty of spying and committing theft of army property in 2006. While being in army, Kuldeep, a resident of Gurdaspur, crossed over to Pakistan along with his service weapon. He remained absent for four years and eight months from 196 Field Regiment till he was apprehended by troops of 25 Punjab. He was charged with committing theft of the property belonging to the government as while leaving he took one carbine gun; twenty 9 mm ball ammunition and one carbine magazine with him. Between December 1999 and August 2004, Kuldeep had passed on secret information pertaining to the Indian military to Pakistan.
Kuldeep had filed an appeal before the Punjab and Haryana high court, which granted him bail in 2010 till the pendency of his appeal. After the formation of AFT, the case was transferred to it. Kuldeep’s appeal was dismissed in January 2014, and it was ordered that since accused was on bail, he should surrender to military authorities within 15 days from the date of the order.
As he did not surrender, nonbailable warrants were issued but couldn’t be executed by the office of the Panchkula deputy commissioner of police. Thereafter, the non-bailable warrants were issued again in May 2015 and sent to Gurdaspur superintendent of police for its execution. The SP was also instructed that if Kuldeep could not be apprehended due to any reason, the details of his immovable property be obtained from the revenue agency and compliance thereof be reported to the AFT. However, Kuldeep could not be apprehended nor the details of his property were sent.
The AFT again sent a reminder to the Gurdaspur SP but in vain. “All these facts are staring at us where the police (executing agency) should have shown concern…there appears to be a lukewarm response to such a grave situation. The petitioner stood convicted and sentenced for serious offences, he could be a grave hazard to the security of the nation,” said the bench comprising justice Surinder Singh Thakur and Lt Gen Sanjiv Chachra (retd). The DGP was asked to ensure that Kuldeep was arrested soon (by an officer not below the rank of an SP).
Corps of Signal win hockey tournament
AMRITSAR: Jalandhar-based army team Corps of Signal (COS) emerged overall winners at the three-day 39th Baba Pallaha Memorial All India Hockey Tournament, which concluded at Baba Pallaha sports stadium in Butala village, here on Wednesday.
The COS competed against Lyallpur Kha ls a College, Jalandhar and defeated it with a score of 3-0. The winners were also awarded a cash prize of ` 51,000, while the runners up got ` 31,000 by the Baba Pallaha Hockey Tournament Committee (BPHTC) organising committee.
Meanwhile, Rajnish Kumar and Ramandeep Singh from COS and Lyallpur teams were also declared as the ‘best players’ of the tournament. In total, 17 teams from all over North India participated in the event.
Ra ghbir Singh Bal and Randeep Singh Bal, the president and the vice-president, of the tournament committee, respectively said, “This annual tournament has attracted many youngsters towards the national game hockey from not only Butala but also from near and far off villages.”