MEERUT: Farmer Gurdeep Singh, 103, had to spend 19 months behind bars after his two sons orchestrated their father’s incarceration to prevent him from executing his plan to donate five acres of land to a gurdwara, against their wishes.
Singh’s family was embroiled in a 2018 attempt to murder case following a quarrel with his brother’s family. Singh and his family members were arrested but they soon came out on bail, and the trial went on.
In 2022, the sons- Kamaljeet Singh and Harpreet Singh -plotted to send their father to jail and told him that the case was settled and that there was no need for him to go to court, while they attended the hearings. After no-show in several court hearings, a non-bailable warrant (NBW) was issued against Gurdeep Singh, following which he was arrested and jailed in Aug 2022.
But luck soon smiled on him. Singh was released from Shahjahanpur Jail on Tuesday after spending over 19 months behind bars. Jail superintendent Mijaji Lal told TOI that Singh approached him in Nov last year, complaining about the lack of basic necessities, including clothes, shoes, sweater and turban cloth, as winter approached. Singh also mentioned that no one visited him in jail.
Jail authorities then reached out to NGO Sahyog Sanstha for assistance. Within 15 days, the NGO helped Singh secure bail and arranged a guarantor for his release in Dec 2022.
As the news of Singh’s impending bail reached his sons’ ears, they became anxious as they feared their father would give away the land once he came out of jail. They then gave an application opposing the bail, insisting only they could act as guarantors. But they never showed up, causing a delay of three more months before Singh was finally released after court’s intervention.
Speaking to TOI, Shahnawaz Khan, patron for the NGO and advocate representing Singh, said, “When we took up his case last year, we found that his incarceration was based on a minor fault of not attending the court hearings in a case he was accused of. He could have gotten bail but no one pursued it on his behalf. Now, he is free and is under the care of Sahyog Sanstha.”
