Ajit Singh son of Malook Singh and Iqbal Kaur of village Killi Bodlan Post Office Makhu in district Ferozepur was a Jat Sikh. He was a graduate and worked as an Inspector in the dept of Agriculture, earning Rs. 7000. Malook Singh's two sons Ajit Singh (Agriculture Inspector) and Dalbir Singh used to cultivate their respective share of land and live in separate houses adjacent to each other. Malook Singh used to live with his younger son Dalbir Singh. His elder son Ajit Singh was employed as an Inspector in Agriculture Department and Ajit Singh's son Manjinder Singh was running a spare parts shop at Zira City. Manjinder Singh was married and had two kids. Malook Singh's younger son Dalbir Singh had two sons and one daughter and they were engaged in agricultural farming. Dalbir Singh's one son was married.

The 7th October 1992 was to be a dooms day for this family. Malook Singh told the Investigation Team amidst sobs that :-
"On 6th October 1992 I along with my grand daughter Jasvir Kaur daughter of Dalbir Singh had gone to Nanaksar (near Jagraon). I and my grand daughter reached Makhu at 4/5 P.M. Ajit Singh met us there. We hired a Tonga (Horse-Cart) and reached our village. We started for our home on foot. Being aged I was walking slowly with the support of my grand daughter. Ajit Singh walked briskly and reached home. As we reached near our home, our neighbours signalled us not to enter our house as the police had surrounded the house. Ajit Singh had reached home before the police surrounded the house.

"When the police came to our house, Ajit Singh was sitting outside his house. Just then, devotees of "Baba Kar Seva Wale" (Religious Leader who organises voluntary manual labour at Gurdwaras etc.) came in a four wheeler and asked for donation. Ajit Singh gave fifty rupees as donation. Two boys of our village Bittoo son of Baaj Singh and Sema son of Sadiq Singh (Mazhabi* Sikh) had also accompanied the "Baba Kar Seva Wale". All these people got Ajit Singh's consent to pluck "Chhalian" (Maize Corn) from the Maize plants in his fields and got busy in the job. Just then, Balkar Singh, SHO (Station House Officer) of Makhu police station reached there along with a police party. He addressed Ajit Singh who was standing outside his house and said, " 'Kharkus' (Militants) are there in your house." Ajit Singh said to the SHO, "Kharkus are inside. This way (if the police fired bullets) our family members might be harmed. First evacuate our family members." However, the SHO did not agree to Ajit Singh's suggestion and directed the boy Bittoo who was plucking Maize Corn to open the door of Ajit Singh's house. Immediately after the door was opened, I heard the sound of gun fire. Balkar Singh and ASI Jarnail Singh fell down after being hit by bullets. Other policemen retreated and hid themselves. "Kar Seva" devotees ran away due to fear. The police returned the fire. Two of the militants who were inside, escaped in the Canter four wheeler of "Baba Kar Seva Wale" while one of the militants while trying to escape fell down at a distance of one "Killa" (acre) from the house after being hit by bullets. The details of this incident were narrated to the surviving family members later on by the "Kar Seva" devotees and two boys of our village."
Malook Singh further said, "I only heard the sound of gunshots. Some time later, heavy police reinforcements reached there and I heard the sound of police vehicles. I wanted to reach my house fast, but was prevented from doing so by my nephew (brother's son) Kundan Singh and his family on the plea that I too would get killed if I went there. Kundan Singh's house is situated behind our house at a distance of 100-150 yards. Shortly afterwards, the sound of thrashing of our family members and their cries started coming from our house. I and the family members of my nephew saw that the police had assembled all the members of my family outside our house, the policemen were beating them and pulling them by their hair. We were looking on helplessly. After some time, the policemen took all the members of our family inside Ajit Singh's house. At 7/8 P.M., the sound of gunshots was heard again. The firing continued. Amidst the firing, I could hear Ajit Singh's voice who was shouting loudly and saying, "You kill me. Why are you killing my family members and those of my brother?"
According to Jasvir Kaur (grand daughter of Malook Singh):-
"From the house of my "Taya" (uncle - father's elder brother) Kundan Singh, I came out and saw that six members of our family (except Ajit Singh) had been made to sit outside the house. Some time later, the police took these six members inside Ajit Singh's house. Thereafter, at about 7/8 P.M., there was firing for some time and the sound of Bomb blasts was also heard." According to Amrik Singh Muktsar, who investigated this case :- "On 8-10-92 at about 6 A.M., the police arrested Malook Singh and Jasvir Kaur from the house of Kundan Singh. DSP (Deputy Superintendent of Police) Dev Raj Sharma was present at that time. He addressed Malook Singh and Jasvir Kaur and said, "You used to give shelter to the militants. We have killed all the members of your family." The police passed through the house of Dalbir Singh along with Malook Singh and Jasvir Kaur. They saw the door of one of the rooms damaged. The gate of Ajit Singh's house was closed. The police put both of them in a vehicle and took them to Makhu police station. There they found Manjinder Singh's four year old daughter who was handed over to Jasvir Kaur by the police. Jasvir Kaur asked her about the whereabouts of other members of the family. The girl replied that all of them had been killed. After some time, the police took Malook Singh and Jasvir Kaur to Zira cremation ground. There also, Malook Singh and Jasvir Kaur were not allowed to go near the dead bodies. By that time, the Village Sarpanch Bhupinder Singh and another relative Mukhtiar Singh had also reached there. The police got the bodies identified from them and obtained Malook Singh's thumb impression on some papers. Thereafter, the post mortem of the dead bodies was got conducted. At about 2 P.M., the police handed over all the seven dead bodies to the family members and the villagers. The bodies were brought home first. According to family members, the hands of all the dead bodies had been burnt. In the case of some of the bodies, only the bones of the hands were visible. There were many scars over Ajit Singh's body. It seemed that either he had been thrashed mercilessly or some heavy article rolled over his body."
"The arm of Rajwinder Singh had been fractured. There was a scar at the throat of Jaswinder Kaur. It seemed as if she had been hanged till death. All the bodies had bullet injury marks. Manjit Kaur's (wife of Manjinder Singh) face had been blown off with bullets and she could not be recognised from her face. The bodies were cremated at the village cremation ground, same day."

• The whereabouts of Manjinder Singh's one and a half year old son were not known to the family members. When they asked the police about him they said that they did not know anything about him. On the third day, a resident of Zira came and informed the village Sarpanch ( Head of village Council) that he had found the said child in wounded condition and got him admitted to Hospital at Faridkot. According to that man, when the police reached Zira cremation ground along with the bodies, this child was in a wounded condition. One of the policemen handed over the child to him. On getting this information, the family members went to Faridkot Medical College and found the child admitted there. He remained there for another 15 days. A bullet had hit the boy in the head and one of his arms had been burnt.
• Now-a-days, Malook Singh lives with his son Dalbir Singh in the same house where this incident had occurred. Out of the family members of Dalbir Singh, only his daughter Jasvir Kaur had survived. He had got her married and she is living along with her family at her father's house only. However, Ajit Singh's son Manjinder Singh still lives at Zira itself. He had got the job of a clerk in the Agriculture Department in place of his father. Manjinder Singh's two children who had survived this incident are also living with him and he has remarried.
• A lot of hue and cry was raised in the newspapers about this incident. The Human Rights and Political Organizations had vehemently demanded a stern action against this barbaric act of the police. The family members also had submitted several applications to higher authorities in this connection. From the Government only SDM Zira, Sh. Surjit Singh had recorded the statements of family members after the "Bhog" ceremony of deceased members and had enquired from the villagers also about this incident. He had inspected the site also. The family members have not been told anything about the result of this enquiry so far.
• Malook Singh told that after this incident, the surviving members of the family were so terrorised that they could never think of initiating any action against the police.
• Thereafter, the police used to raid the house of Malook Singh often and pick up Malook Singh and his son Dalbir Singh. The police used to threaten Malook Singh that militants visited his house. According to Malook Singh, the police were doing all this so that the surviving family members should not initiate any action against the police. The police offered inducements to the family members that they would get them jobs if they do not initiate any action against them.
• About one year after this incident, on 13-2-93, compensation of Rs. 50,000/- per head (Rs. 20,000/- cash and Rs. 30,000/- in the shape of Indira Vikas Patras* (government bonds) was paid by the Government for four members of the family i.e. Lakhwinder Kaur, Manjit Kaur, Iqbal Kaur, and Jaswinder Kaur, through the office of the SDM. No compensation was paid for the other three members of the family. SDM's staff told them to enquire about their case from the Home Department, Punjab, at Chandigarh. Malook Singh says that his grand son is afraid to take any action. He himself is aged and as such cannot do anything.
• On 29-3-96, SDM's office handed over Indira Vikas Patras (government bonds) worth Rs. 2,00,000/- @ Rs. 50,000/- per head for the four members of the family.
• Malook Singh desires action against the guilty. Compensation is not justice, he says. He had seen the destruction of his family with his own eyes. He had not got justice for the gross injustice done to him.
• Ajit Singh's house is in ruins and uninhabited. The family members believe that the police had tortured the family members before shooting them dead in this house only. The family members say that DSP Dev Raj had burnt the hands of the female members of the family in hot oil before shooting them dead. The DSP had said, "You cook food with these hands for the militants." The family members say that none of them feel like living in that house. As soon as one gets inside, the incident is flashed before one's eyes and sends shudders down one's spine.

1. Rajwinder Singh (nephew - brother's son)
2. Sukhwinder Singh (nephew - brother's son)
3. Jaswinder Kaur (sister-in-law - younger brother's wife)
4. Manjit Kaur (daughter-in-law)
5. Lakhwinder Kaur (Wife)
6. Iqbal Kaur (mother)