Jalandhar/Patiala, July 10 -- The whereabouts of dismissed Punjab Police deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Jaspal Singh, who is serving a life sentence in the 1995 abduction and murder case of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra and has been out on interim bail since May 2023, have come under fresh scrutiny after police failed to trace him at the address recorded in jail records. The development surfaced after the Open Agriculture Jail, Nabha, authorities initiated a verification of the address furnished by Jaspal Singh at the time of his release on interim bail. The exercise was reportedly triggered after he allegedly failed to mark his mandatory attendance before the jail authorities as required under the conditions of his bail. The verification process also gained urgency amid the recent controversy surrounding the removal of the film "Satluj", based on Khalra's life and murder, from an OTT platform. The case dates back to September 6, 1995, when Khalra, who had exposed the alleged illegal cremation of thousands of unidentified bodies during Punjab's militancy years, was allegedly abducted from outside his residence in Amritsar by Punjab Police personnel. According to the prosecution, he was taken to the Jhabal police station in Tarn Taran, illegally confined, tortured and subsequently murdered in policecustody. His body was never recovered. Following widespread outrage, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the probe and chargesheeted six Punjab Police personnel, including then DSP Jaspal Singh, sub-inspectors Satnam Singh, Surinder Pal Singh and Jasbir Singh, head constable Prithipal Singh, and sub-inspector Amarjit Singh, for abduction, illegal confinement, murder and destruction of evidence. Amarjit Singh was later acquitted. According to official records, Jaspal had listed Manjhi village in Hoshiarpur district as his current address while also mentioning another residential address in Cheema Nagar, Jalandhar. Acting on a verification request from the Nabha jail authorities, the Hoshiarpur police visited Manjhi village and conducted inquiries with the village sarpanch and other panchayat members. Confirming the development, senior superintendent of police (SSP) Sandeep Kumar Malik said on the verification request by Nabha jail authorities, the police team went to Manjhi village for cross-verification with the village sarpanch and other panchayat members. "We have been told that no person by the name of Jaspal Singh, son of Satpal Singh, lives or ever resided in the village. We have informed the jail authorities about the development," Malik said, adding that it is a routine affair as jail authorities usually contact local police stations for verification of those released on bail. A senior police official said there is a need to check bail conditions in this case to ascertain whether Jaspal was mandated to stay at a given address or not. During the inquiry, several villagers were questioned, but none could identify Jaspal or establish any connection between him and the address mentioned in the official records. The police report concluded that the address could not be verified and recorded that the individual was "not found" at the location. Another police team visited Jaspal's Jalandhar residence in Cheema Nagar, where the property was found to be under the care of a caretaker. A senior official of the Punjab jail department said Jaspal had provided multiple residential addresses to the authorities over the years, citing security concerns. "The recent address given by him was of Manjhi village in Hoshiarpur," the official said. Jaspal was lodged in the Nabha jail before being granted interim bail by the chief judicial magistrate (CJM), Patiala, on May 25, 2023, after furnishing a personal bond and a surety bond of Rs.1 lakh. His release followed a Punjab and Haryana high court order in a contempt petition, which held that if the state government failed to decide a prisoner's remission application within three months, the prisoner would be entitled to interim bail until a final decision was taken. Acting on that ruling, CJM Navdeep Kaur Gill ordered his release pending a decision on his remission plea. Jaspal had sought premature release in 2017, but his application was rejected by the Union ministry of home affairs. On November 18, 2005, a CBI court in Patiala convicted Jaspal and the other accused and sentenced them to life imprisonment. The convictions and sentences were subsequently upheld by the Punjab and Haryana high court in 2007 and by the Supreme Court in 2011. The latest police verification report has now been forwarded to the Nabha jail authorities for further action. As of now, there has been no official announcement regarding cancellation of Jaspal's interim bail or any fresh legal proceedings against him arising from the verification report. Nabha jail superintendent Chanchal Kumari did not immediately respond to calls for comment. Jail officials, however, clarified that the verification exercise should not be construed as an indication that the convictwas absconding. They said the verification of a prisoner's residential details is a routine administrative exercise carried out periodically....