More than five years after a labour rights activist was allegedly kept in illegal confinement and tortured by the Sonipat Police during the farmers’ agitation against the three farm laws, the Haryana Police have registered an FIR against three police personnel, including two Inspectors and a Sub-Inspector.
The accused have been identified as then Kundli Station House Officer (SHO) Ravi, Sub-Inspector Shamsher Singh and CIA Sonipat Inspector Ravinder. The case has been registered on charges including voluntarily causing grievous hurt and wrongful confinement, following the findings of a judicial inquiry ordered by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The inquiry was initiated after the victim Shiv Kumar’s father, Rajbir Singh, approached the High Court alleging that his son had been tortured in police custody. The court subsequently directed a medical examination of Mr. Kumar by a medical board at the Government Medical College Hospital, Chandigarh. The examination revealed injuries, following which the court ordered a judicial probe.
In an affidavit filed before the court last month, Sonipat Police Commissioner Mamta Singh said a three-member Special Investigation Team had been constituted to ensure a “fair, impartial and expeditious investigation”.
According to the judicial inquiry report, Mr. Kumar was picked up by the police on January 16, 2021, and kept in illegal confinement until January 23, when he was formally shown as arrested and produced before a Magistrate.
“SI Shamsher Singh, then Additional SHO, Kundli, was the Investigating Officer of all three cases and had taken the police remand of Shiv Kumar on the night intervening January 23-24, 2021, which was granted till February 2, 2021,” the report said. It held him “directly responsible for the torture meted out to Shiv Kumar, along with the other police officials associated with him”.
The report also questioned the conduct of doctors who examined Mr. Kumar during his police remand. “Shiv Kumar was examined as many as five times from January 24, 2021 to February 2, 2021, but none of the doctors of the Government Hospital, Sonipat, or the doctor deputed in jail performed their duty, and they apparently danced to the tune of the police officials,” it said. It further observed that Vinay Kakran, who was posted as Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMIC), Sonipat, at the time, appeared not to have discharged his duty as required.
On the role of Inspector Ravi, the report said he headed the police team that picked up Mr. Kumar on January 16 and kept him in illegal confinement. Regarding Inspector Ravinder, then in-charge of the CIA, Sonipat, the report noted that he had denied Mr. Kumar was ever brought to the CIA premises. However, it said Mr. Kumar’s testimony indicated that the torture had taken place there.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Kumar described the FIR as “weak” and demanded that appropriate provisions relating to torture and caste-based abuse be added, including sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
He also sought an independent investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or an inquiry monitored by a sitting or retired judge, arguing that an investigation by the Haryana Police would not be effective.
Mr. Kumar further alleged that pressure was being exerted on him and his family. Claiming that his brother had been picked up again and that he was being kept under surveillance, he demanded an immediate end to such actions.
Ms. Singh could not be reached for her comments despite repeated attempts to contact her till the time of filing this report.
Published – November 05, 2026 04:45 am IST
