ਮੁਹੰਮਦ ਇਜ਼ਹਾਰ ਆਲਮ

The dossier of Mohammad Izhar Alam visualizes cases of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions reportedly committed under his command during his tenure as Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) or Deputy Inspector General (DIG) in various jurisdictions of Punjab. He not only permitted his subordinates and other security forces to perpetrate violations against residents in his assigned jurisdictions, but he also allowed them to travel extraterritorially to target individuals. Further, during the counterinsurgency, human rights groups regularly reported on the Alam Sena, a paramilitary group organized and run by Alam and notorious for human rights violations.

The number of cases presented here is an undercounting of the likely cases perpetrated under his command. These cases draw from Ensaaf’s interviews with family members of the victims and other witnesses, and present the information provided by them. This visualization excludes all cases where complete incident dates or locations were not available. Without this information, it is difficult to ascertain whether those incidents occurred under Alam’s command. This data also excludes cases of individuals who were arbitrarily detained or tortured by Alam or officials under his command.

We will update the cases of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions reported under his command, as we receive more information. To a large extent, however, this information and the complete truth rests with the government of India.

ਕਾਰਜ ਕਾਲ ਦਾ ਇਤਹਾਸ

Unless otherwise noted, Mohammad Izhar Alam’s command history draws from the following sources: (1) the annual Civil List of the Indian Police Service (IPS) for the Punjab cadre, prepared by the Ministry of Home Affairs, naming the position and date of posting of the senior police official as of January 1 of that year for 1983 to 1996, (2) news reports from the Punjabi daily newspaper Ajit and the English daily Tribune (Chandigarh), and (3) the individual websites of Punjab’s police districts, listing the names of Senior Superintendents of Police (SSP) and their dates of tenure. This information draws from publicly available records/sources; the complete account of Alam’s official postings and activities lies with the government of India.

• SSP Ropar, October 31, 1983 - November 14, 1985

  
  

• SSP Jalandhar, November 15, 1985 - June 30, 1986

  
  

• SSP Amritsar, July 1, 1986 - April 19, 1988
  (The IPS List from 1987 and the Amritsar police website vary by one week on both the starting and ending dates. The dates provided by the Amritsar police are used here.)

  
  

• Padma Shri awarded by Government of India in August 1987

• SSP Jalandhar, April 27, 1988 - most likely May 21, 1989

  
  

• Most likely DIG, Border Range, May 27, 1989 - November 14,1989
  (On May 21, 1989, the Tribune reported that Alam took over as DIG Jalandhar Range on May 21, 1989, but then subsequent articles stated he was DIG Border Range as of May 27. See, e.g., May 27, 1989, p. 8, “Areas Changed”. Because this posting falls in the middle of the year, it is not reported in the IPS Civil List. Further, the Punjab Police website does not provide information regarding its historical postings of DIG.)