A judicial inquiry into the death of 34-year-old tutor Narinderdeep Singh has held that senior Bathinda police officers failed to act on allegations of custodial torture, while indicting four personnel of the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA)-2 for his alleged illegal detention and physical torture.
The inquiry was conducted by Bathinda Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Prabhjot Bhatti, who completed the proceedings on September 1, 2026. His 18-page report was submitted to the Bathinda sessions judge earlier this month.
The report has specifically held the then Bathinda senior superintendent of police (SSP) Amneet Kondal and then SP (Investigation) Jasmeet Singh responsible for “grave dereliction of duty”. According to the inquiry, both officers were informed on May 24, 2025, about allegations that Narinderdeep had been tortured in police custody, but failed to ensure an immediate, independent investigation.
Police response came under judicial scrutiny
The four personnel indicted in the report are Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Avtar Singh alias Tari, Head Constables Lakhwinder Singh and Harwinder Singh, and Senior Constable Gurpal Singh.
The inquiry found that the circumstances surrounding Narinderdeep’s death could not be reconciled with the initial account that he had died in a road accident. It said the evidence of witnesses, medical records and injuries on his body pointed towards illegal detention and torture before he was brought dead to Shaheed Bhai Mani Singh Civil Hospital in Bathinda.
The report said the evidence indicated that electric shocks had allegedly been administered to sensitive parts of Narinderdeep’s body, including his head and penis, by personnel of CIA-2 shortly before his death.
It further concluded that the version of a road accident or drug overdose was a false explanation allegedly advanced to protect those responsible.
The medical board of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bathinda, had attributed Narinderdeep’s death to respiratory failure caused by the combined effects of opiate toxicity and benzodiazepines, a depressant drug. The judicial inquiry, however, considered the medical evidence alongside witness accounts and the injuries documented on the deceased.
The inquiry also criticised the conduct of the two senior officers. It said they failed to secure the accused personnel immediately, did not ensure a prompt and impartial investigation and discouraged a higher-level or judicial probe.
The report noted that the accused police personnel remained absent from duty while evading arrest and said the supervisory failures contributed to the continuation of “impunity”. It recommended strict departmental action for what it described as serious administrative and supervisory misconduct.
Family questioned accident theory
The case came under scrutiny after Narinderdeep’s family was initially told that he had died in a road accident. Relatives became suspicious after seeing visible marks on his body at the civil hospital.
Gagandeep Singh, a friend of Narinderdeep and an eyewitness to the events preceding his death, later went live on Facebook on May 24, 2025. He alleged that a CIA team had tortured both men and claimed that police personnel had forced him to tell Narinderdeep’s family that their friend had died in an accident.
According to the case file, Narinderdeep and Gagandeep were returning from Ferozepur following an unspecified financial transaction when CIA personnel intercepted them. The two were questioned over suspected involvement in drug trafficking. No drugs or other material were recovered from them, according to the case file.
Gagandeep’s allegations led to further scrutiny of the circumstances of the death. A case was subsequently registered against six people, including the four CIA personnel and Narinderdeep’s friends Gagandeep Singh and Happy Luthra.
A case under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), concerning culpable homicide not amounting to murder, was registered at Canal Colony police station on May 25, 2025.
The four police personnel were later suspended. Their alleged involvement triggered protests by Narinderdeep’s family and others, with demands for a high-level investigation. Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal also visited the family in June 2025 and sought an independent investigation, compensation and a government job for a member of the family.
The judicial inquiry was subsequently ordered by the Bathinda sessions judge on August 8, 2026.
Case timeline
May 23, 2025: Narinderdeep Singh, 34, was brought dead to Shaheed Bhai Mani Singh Civil Hospital in Bathinda.
May 24, 2025: Gagandeep Singh alleged that Narinderdeep had died following torture in CIA custody and claimed he had been forced to give the family a false account of a road accident.
May 25, 2025: An FIR was registered at Canal Colony police station under Section 105 of the BNS.
August 8, 2026: The Bathinda sessions judge ordered a judicial inquiry into the death.
September 1, 2026: Bathinda CJM Prabhjot Bhatti concluded the inquiry.
Early September 2026: The inquiry report was submitted to the Bathinda sessions judge, indicting four CIA-2 personnel and holding senior supervisory officers responsible for serious lapses.