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.
In less than 24 hours, police found the baby girl's parents, who were identified as Manjula and Sailesh Bajania. They admitted before the police that they buried the baby as it was premature birth, and since they were financially weak and feared medical expenses, they decided to bury her.
In her letter, DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal demanded that the woman's mortal remains be repatriated to her family in India and a team of psychologists, social workers and police officers meet her children and ascertain their condition.
As per this policy, the royalty of Rs 2.40 per cubic feet will be the same as earlier. Revenue collected under the Information and Technology Department and weigh bridge head, which is 10 paise per cubic feet, will be deposited in the state exchequer instead of being retained by the contractor currently.
BSF's Deputy Inspector General, Gurdaspur Sector, Prabhakar Joshi informed that BSF had recovered Rs 500, two mobile phones, two identity cards and a packet of tobacco from their possession. However, he said that their motive to infiltrate India was yet to be known and BSF was investigating the same.
Sharing details after a high-level meeting to review the situation, the Chief Minister said the GoM comprising Finance Minister Harpal Cheema, Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal and Animal Husbandry Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar would be assisted by experts from the Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University and officials from the animal husbandry department.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday granted bail to senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia, who was in jail over for over five months for his alleged involvement in a drugs case registered in December 2021. A division Bench of Justices M.S. Ramachandra Rao and Sureshwar Thakur had reserved the order on the bail plea on July 29.
