Patiala, Sept. 11 — Two retired Punjab Police officers, both serving life terms in separate fake encounter cases, and a third officer facing trial were brutally assaulted by a fellow inmate inside Patiala Central Jail on Wednesday, officials confirmed.
The injured have been identified as former deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Gurbachan Singh, retired inspector Sooba Singh, and inspector Inderjit Singh. According to authorities, Sooba Singh sustained severe facial injuries and was shifted to the ICU of Rajindra Hospital, while Gurbachan Singh and Inderjit Singh remain under medical observation. Doctors have described Sooba Singh’s condition as critical.
Officials said the attack was carried out by Sandeep Singh, also known as Sunny, who is an accused in the 2022 murder of Hindu leader Sudhir Suri in Amritsar. Sunny allegedly sharpened spoons into makeshift weapons and struck the officers repeatedly on their heads and faces.
“Preliminary information suggests that the assault stemmed from suspicion and personal animosity inside the barrack,” said Superintendent of Police (City) Palwinder Singh Cheema, adding that an FIR has been registered at the Tripuri police station. Another officer, requesting anonymity, noted, “The exact motive will be determined after detailed statements are recorded, but Sunny had long suspected the former policemen of tipping off jail authorities about his activities.”
Witnesses inside the jail reported that tensions between Sunny and the officers had flared earlier as well. “There had been heated exchanges a few months ago over similar allegations,” a jail official mentioned. On Wednesday, as the inmates were seated in the barrack, Sunny suddenly launched the assault. Jail staff intervened quickly and rushed the injured officers to the hospital.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Varun Sharma visited the Central Jail immediately after the incident and later met the injured at Rajindra Hospital. “The situation is under control, and we are reviewing the circumstances of the attack,” Sharma stated.
The three injured officers have been linked to long-pending cases of police excesses in Punjab’s militancy era. Gurbachan Singh was convicted on December 25, 2024, for the killing of constable Jagdeep Singh Makhan and special police officer Gurnam Singh Pali in a 1992 case. The victims’ bodies had been cremated as “unidentified” at the time.
On August 5 this year, a CBI court sentenced Sooba Singh and several others to life imprisonment for the 1993 fake encounter of seven people in Tarn Taran. Inderjit Singh, the third officer attacked on Wednesday, is an undertrial in another case and was already lodged in Patiala jail.
Authorities are continuing to investigate how the weapon was fashioned and whether there were lapses in surveillance inside the barrack.
