Punjab SIT summons Sukhbir Badal in 2015 Kotkapura firing incident
Darpan News Desk IANS, 25 Aug, 2022 10:30 AM
Chandigarh, Aug 25 (IANS) In a major political development, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating the 2015 Kotkapura firing case following sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib has summoned then former Deputy Chief Minister and current Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal in Chandigarh on August 30.
The SIT led by Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) L.K. Yadav, earlier questioned former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini.
However, SAD leaders denied that Badal, who was the home minister of Punjab in 2015, has been summoned for questioning.
Badal has been asked to appear at the Punjab Police Officers Institute in Sector 32 in Chandigarh at 10.30 a.m.
Saini was removed from the top police post by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in 2015 following incidents of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib and subsequent violence in the state in which the police force was accused of excesses that left two people dead.
Justice Ranjit Singh (retd), who headed the commission appointed by the previous Congress government into the alleged incidents of sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib and the subsequent police firing on protesters, has placed the then Chief Minister, the SAD patriarch, and then DGP Saini in dock.
Also, he castigated the Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda, whose chief and self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is currently serving a 20-year jail sentence for raping two of his disciples and a life term for a journalist's killing, for the incident of sacrilege.
Justice Singh made these comments in January on the release of his 423-page book 'The Sacrilege' based on his inquiry when he was heading the government set up commission.
"Inference on the basis of material and evidence is against both then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and then Director General of Police (DGP) Saini for not playing active role (with the subsequent police firing on protesters after the sacrilege incident)," Justice Singh had told IANS at the book launch here.
The incident of sacrilege took place in Behbal Kalan village of Faridkot district and the subsequent police firing on protesters that claimed two lives was raked up by the Congress against the SAD-BJP combine government in the 2017 assembly polls.
Even in 2022 polls, the incidents continued to rock the state's political sphere as the successive governments are under fire for failing to deliver justice in the cases.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on April 9, 2021, quashed the previous police SIT report that gave a clean chit to the Badals and directed the state government to set up a new team.
The high court had not only quashed the probe but also raised doubts over the methods and ordered reconstitution of the SIT probing the case without IPS officer Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, who is now an AAP legislator.
Following the court directive, the then Congress government led by Captain Amarinder Singh constituted another SIT on May 7 to probe the incident.
Acting on the interrogation of earlier arrested Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Guramanpreet Singh and contractor Hummy, the police took Dharamsot into custody for the wrongdoings in the Forest Department.
The Chief Minister's Office said the Cabinet gave the nod for promulgation of the session from June 24 with obituary references and motion of thanks on the Governor's Address, followed by a discussion on it.
"The passing away of such a promising life is very saddening and unfortunate. As a mother myself I can feel the pain and anguish of the parents and today, I have come here to share their pain," she said while interacting with the mediapersons.
Special Judge Anil Antil of Rouse Avenue Court noted that the accused Ankur Aggarwal along with his family had absconded and concealed himself for about 15 years in Canada and even after coming to India, he remained elusive for about three years or so.
Addressing a press conference here to highlight the letter written by Majithia's wife and Majitha legislator Ganieve Kaur Majithia to the DGP along with a copy to chief minister Bhagwant Mann, senior SAD leaders Maheshinder Singh Grewal and Daljit Singh Cheema demanded the immediate removal of Sidhu from the additional charge of the ADGP, Prisons, besides taking other necessary action in the case.
The Akal Takht Jathedar and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) officials honoured the families of those who were killed during 'Operation Bluestar'. There was heavy barricading by police around all entry points to the Golden Temple.
