Five years on, probe into police firing at Faridkot’s Behbal Kalan, Kotkapura still a work in progress
The investigation into the October 2015 Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura police firing episodes, which sparked statewide protests, seems to have reached no conclusion so far with the special investigation team (SIT) having filed as many as six chargesheets in the cases.
Two Sikh protesters— Gurjeet Singh of Sarawan village and Krishan Bhagwan Singh of Niamiwala village in Faridkot district— were killed during the protest at Behbal Kalan.
The SIT recently named the then director general of police (DGP) Sumedh Singh Saini as accused in both the firing incidents. It has named a total of 11 people, including nine police personnel, as accused, with one of the cops turning approver.
What happened
on Oct 14, 2015
The police teams opened fire on the people protesting against the desecration of Guru Granth Sahib at Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura on October 14, 2015. Gurjeet Singh and Krishan Bhagwan Singh, who died in the firing, had joined the villagers holding a demonstration at the Behbal Kalan bus stand against the sacrilege incident at Bargari two days earlier.
Also, many people were seriously injured in the firing which started at around 3am at Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan around 9:30am. Gurjeet sustained three bullet injuries, including one in the head, while Bhagwan Krishan received four bullets.
What triggered
the protests
A ‘bir’ (copy of Guru Granth Sahib) was stolen from a gurdwara at Burj Jawahar Singh Wala on June 1, 2015, triggering outrage.
On October 12, 2015, torn pages of the ‘bir’ were found scattered in front of a gurdwara at Bargari village. After the sacrilege incident, the residents of the town and nearby villages started protesting at Kotkapura. Soon, Sikh protestors from other districts started gathering at Kotkapura following which additional police force from Moga, Bathinda and Ferozepur districts was sent to Faridkot. Later, a unit led by now suspended inspector general of police Paramraj Singh Umaranagal (then Ludhiana police commissioner), who is also an accused on the case. The situation got tense after police attempted to remove the protesters from dharna site at Kotkapura and later at Behbal Kalan, which resulted in the firing.
How things
panned out
Soon after the firing episode, the police lodged two FIRs against the protesters and justified the firing as an act of self-defence.
Faced with anger among the Sikhs following the death of two protesters, the then Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (SAD-BJP) government formed an SIT led by then ADGP IPS Sahota to probe the sacrilege and firing incidents.
An FIR was lodged against unidentified police personnel in the Behbal Kalan firing on October 21 at the Bajakhana police station. Also, the government formed a commission led by Justice (retd) Zora Singh to probe the sacrilege incidents. Besides, a ‘peoples’ commission’ headed by Justice Markandey Katju (retd) also probed the incidents and blamed the police for an “excessive use of force on innocent people”.
The SAD-BJP coalition’s defeat in the 2017 assembly elections was attributed largely to the sacrilege and police firing by political observers as the issues were raked up the opposition. The new Congress government headed by Capt Amarinder Singh formed the Justice (retd) Ranjit Singh commission whose report was tabled in the assembly a year later.
A resolution was passed to take back the sacrilege cases from the CBI and a SIT was constituted to probe the police firing incidents. The Ranjit Singh commission indicted the cops in its probe report. An FIR (number 129) was registered at the Kotkapura police station against unidentified police personnel on August 7, 2018, in connection with the Kotkapura incident.
Former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, former deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal and actor Akshay Kumar appeared before the SIT in November that year.
The SIT probe
The SIT found that the cops opened fire on the peaceful protesters on Umaranagal’s direction and later conspired to fabricate the evidence to cover up the incidents. So far, the SIT has named Saini, Umaranagal, former Moga SSP Charanjit Singh Sharma and ex-SHO Gurdeep Singh Pandher as accused in both the cases.
While former Akali MLA Mantar Singh Brar, then ADCP Paramjit Singh Pannu and SP Baljit Singh are accused in the Kotkapura case, SP Bikramjit Singh, former SHO Amarjit Singh Kular, Pankaj Bansal and Suhail Singh Brar are accused Behbal Kalan firing case. Inspector Pardeep Singh, who was one of the accused, has now turned an approver.
What next
The SIT is preparing to file a final chargesheet in the police firing cases. A strong legal battle awaits ahead as more than a dozen writ petitions moved by the accused with demands, including that of changing SIT member IG Kunwar Vijay Pratap, are pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The cases are at the stage of framing charges in the trial court at Faridkot.
The SIT is exploring options to nab Saini, who was named as accused in both cases recently, as he has seven-day notice protection from the high court.