12 Patiala cops suspended for assault on army colonel yet to be named in FIR
The medical report of Government Rajindra Hospital (copy with HT), where the injured colonel and his son Angad Singh were taken, reveals that the duo had not ‘consumed alcohol’ refuting the claims made in filed on the statement of the eatery owner
Five days after Army colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath and his son were assaulted outside an eatery, Patiala police are yet to name the 12 cops — who have been suspended over the incident — in the First Information Report (FIR).
The FIR registered on March 15 is based on the statement of eatery owner Karanjot Singh who said that two persons (hinting at colonel and his son) came to his establishment on the intervening night of March 13 and 14 for food and started drinking there.
According to the FIR (accessed by HT) some unidentified people asked the colonel and his son to stop drinking in public which led to the altercation.
However, the medical report of Government Rajindra Hospital (copy with HT), where the injured colonel and his son Angad Singh were taken, reveals that the duo had not ‘consumed alcohol’.
Colonel’s wife Jasvinder Singh Bath on Tuesday accused the Patiala police of covering up the incident by registering a ‘fabricated’ FIR based on the statement of the dhaba owner, instead of her husband and son’s statement.
“We demand that all the 12 cops, who assaulted my husband and son, should be named in the FIR and arrested,” said Jasvinder Bath.
Patiala senior superintendent of police Nanak Singh, said that the police have recorded the statements of both parties — colonel and suspended cops.
“We have recorded the statements of the colonel and the accused cops and started the investigation. The statement given by the colonel has been taken on record and mentions the names of the cops. We are now carrying out the investigation on merit,” the SSP said.
On the intervening night of March 13 and 14, Colonel Bath, who was undergoing treatment at the Military Hospital in Patiala has been shifted to Command Hospital in Chandimandir, was allegedly kicked in the face, while his left arm was broken and he suffered injuries in the back following the assault by the policemen, who were in civvies.
The colonel, who is posted at Army Headquarters in New Delhi, on Monday said: “I and my son Angad had come to Patiala from Delhi. He reached at 12.15 am and we decided to have ‘maggi’ at a roadside dhabha. We were standing near our car and having food, when some police officials, who were in civil dress, reached the spot and asked me to remove my vehicle while using abusive language.”
“When I objected to their language, one of them punched me. Later, all the police personnel thrashed me and my son who tried to intervene. They even took my government ID card and mobile phone,” Col Bath added. His son has been discharged.
Lt Gen KJS Dhillon (retd), in a post on social media on Tuesday, demanded the arrest of the accused cops.
“Day 5 ..... Serving Army Colonel beaten by Patiala police with broken arm -- FIR still against unidentified personnel. No arrests. Angst of serving Army personnel & Veterans of @adgpi against the police in a border state like Punjab is something only Pakistan wants. So stop playing in the hands of the enemy. I will continue to be hopeful of action by @DGPPunjabPolice @CMOPbIndia @HMOIndia,” Dhillon said in a post on X.
Western Command termed the incident ‘unfortunate and avoidable.’
“An unfortunate & avoidable incident involving a serving Army Officer & some police personnel in civies took place on the night 13/14 March 2025 at #Patiala. The issue was promptly addressed by the senior hierarchy of #WesternCommand & #PunjabPolice exploiting the well-established coordination mechanism. #IndianArmy acknowledges the prompt response by #PunjabPolice in addressing the issue,” the post on X said.