Jalandhar, July 12 -- The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) has written to Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, urging the immediate withdrawal of the President's Police Medal for Gallantry to former senior superintendent of police (SSP) Ajit Singh Sandhu and former deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Jaspal Singh, both of whom were indicted over abduction, torture and murder of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra. Addressing a press conference at the DSGMC headquarters in New Delhi on Saturday, committee leaders referred to recent reports highlighting the failure of successive Punjab governments since 1996 to initiate action to strip the two former police officers of their gallantry awards. HT had on July 11 reported that despite MHA directives, cops indicted in Khalra case have not been stripped of medals. Khalra was allegedly abducted by Punjab Police personnel from outside his residence in Amritsar on September 6, 1995. According to the prosecution, he was taken to the Jhabal police station in Tarn Taran, where he was illegally detained, tortured, and subsequently murdered in police custody. His body has never been recovered. In a joint letter, DSGMC president Harmeet Singh Kalka and general secretary Jagdip Singh Kahlon said it was disturbing that officers associated with one of the country's most widely condemned human rights cases continued to retain prestigious national honours. "Allowing these gallantry medals to remain with the convicted officers undermines the principles of justice, accountability, and the rule of law," the letter stated. Kahlon urged the Punjab government to recommend the withdrawal of the awards and remove the names of the two officers from the list of gallantry award recipients displayed on the Punjab Police website. "Such honours have no place in a democratic society that values human rights, justice, and accountability," he said. The DSGMC also pointed to repeated guidelines issued by the MHA, which advise state governments to recommend the forfeiture, withdrawal, or annulment of medals awarded to police personnel whose conduct brings disrepute to the force. Sandhu and Jaspal Singh received the President's Police Medal for Gallantry in 1995....