BATHINDA, July 16 -- A Bathinda court will hear on July 31 a case against five police personnel accused of fabricating a custodial death as a drowning incident. The case, heard on Tuesday by civil judge (junior division) Rasveen Kaur, involves inspector Navpreet Singh, the then head of Bathinda CIA-1, head constable Rajwinder Singh and three constables- Gaganpreet Singh, Harjeet Singh and Jaswinder Singh. A fact-finding report filed on February 18 this year by then judicial magistrate (first class) Kuldeep Singh indicted the five for allegedly torturing a man to death in illegal custody and covering it up as drowning. Based on this report, the district court ordered them to stand trial for culpable homicide, causing disappearance of evidence and other offences. Four of the accused-Navpreet, Rajwinder, Harjeet and Jaswinder-had filed for an anticipatory bail in the local court but it was rejected. Hearing their petition on July 11, the additional sessions judge, Rajiv Kalra stated that "the applicants are not found to be entitled for benefit of anticipatory bail in the light of serious allegations levelled against them for custodial death of an innocent person." The sessions court also remarked that "the applicants initially assailed their summoning by learned Judicial Magistrate before the Punjab and Haryana high court by raising plea that the magistrate, who conducted inquiry for alleged custodial death, cannot take cognizance to summon the applicants. But the (high) court repelled it." The accused had filed a petition in the HC on March 17, seeking quashing of criminal proceedings initiated by a Bathinda district court. The HC had ordered an interim stay on the district court's proceedings which was finally dismissed on July 1. Since February, the district court has summoned the accused twice and issued arrest warrants four times, but police have failed to produce them in court. A judicial inquiry was initiated after the deceased's brother, Satnam Singh-then lodged in Ferozepur Central Jail-wrote to the sessions judge in October 2023 alleging his brother's illegal detention, custodial torture and death....