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2017 Maur Mandi blast: HC seeks fresh status report from Punjab Police
The twin blasts took place on January 31, 2017, at Maur in Bathinda ahead of the February 4 assembly elections in Punjab, killing seven persons and injuring 25.
The Punjab and Haryana high court has sought a fresh status report from Punjab Police in the Maur Mandi blast case that took place a few days before the Punjab assembly polls in 2017.
The twin blasts took place on January 31, 2017, at Maur in Bathinda ahead of the February 4 assembly elections in Punjab, killing seven persons and injuring 25.
Though the special investigation team (SIT) formed to probe the case filed a challan on January 29, 2020, no ne of the accused has been arrested in this seven-year-old case.
The police are clueless about the whereabouts of the three accused, who had allegedly driven the explosive-laden car from Sirsa to Maur. Police had named three Dera Sacha Sauda followers in the case, including Gurtej Singh, in-charge of a workshop where the explosives were allegedly fitted into the car, Amrik Singh, a security guard of the dera chief, and Avtar Singh, a Kurukshetra electrician, who allegedly helped fix the batteries used in the bomb.
“In spite of repeated opportunities given, it is apparent that neither Gurtej Singh, Amrik Singh nor Avtar Singh have been apprehended. On 17.09.2020, the coordinate bench had also expressed its displeasure. Almost a period of four years has gone by, but situation remains the same,” the bench of justice GS Sandhawalia and justice Lapita Banerji observed during the resumed hearing of the public interest litigation (PIL) on April 25.
The court was hearing a plea from Patiala resident Gurjeet Singh Patran filed in 2018. It alleges that the probe has slowed down, ever since the names of some Dera Sacha Sauda followers cropped up in the case. He also claimed that the dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has neither been questioned nor arrested.
The court further said that according to a status report of October 2023, the attachment of property of Amrik Singh has been done and the latest status report gives the details of various raids carried out on the family members, relatives/friends of the accused persons between October 2023 and April 2024, but police have not met with any success. The affidavit does not depict whether any steps were further taken for going ahead with the sale of the attached property, it said, asking for a fresh status report on the probe and an update on the proceedings in furtherance to the attachment of the property. The matter will be taken up on July 3.
