Former Punjab IGP Sentenced for Wrongful Detention

Mohali- Former Inspector General of Punjab Police (IGP), Gautam Cheema, was sentenced to eight months in prison by a Special CBI court on Friday. The court also convicted five others in the case of wrongful detention of a person from police custody in Mohali in 2014.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigated the incident, which involved the illegal detention of Sumedh Gulati. Gulati was taken from the custody of Police Station Phase-I, Mohali, by Cheema, Ajay Chaudhary, and four others.

The six accused were found guilty by the Special CBI Judge in Mohali and sentenced to imprisonment. Each accused was also fined Rs 39,000. Other convicts include Varun Utreja (Advocate), Rashmi Negi, Vicky Verma, and Aryan Singh.

The CBI registered the case following an order from the Punjab and Haryana High Court dated March 4, 2020. The case was transferred from Police Station-Phase-I, Mohali.

The incident allegedly occurred on August 26, 2014, around 11 p.m. Cheema, allegedly intoxicated, along with Ajay Choudhary and others, arrived at the police station and took Gulati, who was arrested earlier that day in a separate case. They took Gulati to Max Hospital in Mohali, where a complainant was admitted. Cheema is accused of forcibly detaining Gulati in the same room and threatening the complainant to withdraw complaints filed against him.

The CBI filed a charge sheet against the six accused on December 31, 2020, after completing its investigation. The trial court convicted and sentenced the accused.

A 1995 batch IPS officer from Punjab, Cheema hails from Punjab. Last year, the Special CBI Court charged Cheema with wrongful confinement, assault, conspiracy, kidnapping, and obstructing a public servant.