Mohali, Nov. 13 -- A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Punjab's Mohali on Thursday sentenced former senior superintendent of police (SSP) Gurmeet Singh Randhawa to seven years of imprisonment in the 1992 abduction and disappearance of transporter Amrik Singh Shakri, who was picked up by Taran Tarn police team from a Ludhiana hotel while attending a wedding. The verdict came nearly after a protracted 34-year legal battle. Co-accused DSP Parminderjit Singh, represented by advocate HS Dhanoa, was acquitted on Wednesday. A detailed copy of the judgment is awaited. The case dates back to November 25, 1992, when Shakri was abducted by a Tarn Taran police team from Hotel Amaltas in Ludhiana during his niece's wedding. His whereabouts remained unknown despite repeated appeals by his family. In 1996, Shakri's wife filed a habeas corpus petition in the Supreme Court. The state government contended that Shakri was dead, a claim fiercely disputed by Shakri's family leading to a top court order a CBI probe into the case along with broader allegations of mass cremations of unidentified bodies by Punjab Police. In February 2000, CBI registered a case and charge-sheeted five police officers - Then Tarn Taran DSP (detective) Gurmeet Singh Randhawa, then Khalra station house officer inspector Suba Singh, sub-inspector Surinder Singh, assistant sub-inspector Jaswant Singh, and constable Parminderjit Singh. Of the 47 witnesses cited by the CBI, only 16 deposed during the trial, as several died during the prolonged proceedings. Three of the accused-ASI Jaswant Singh, SI Surinder Singh, and inspector Suba Singh-also died, leading the court to abate proceedings against them. Advocate Jagjit Singh Bajwa, who represented the Shakri's family, said, "the abduction took place during the period of militancy in Punjab. Amrik Singh was a transporter and belonged to a financially well-off family. According to Bajwa, the family was asked to pay Rs.10 lakh for his release. However, his whereabouts remained unknown and the family was unable to establish what happened to him."...