Kotkapura police firing: Year on, SIT fails to file fresh chargesheet

In April last year, the Punjab and Haryana high court had quashed all reports related to the Kotkapura firing filed by the previous SIT

Almost a year after initiating probe into the Kotkapura police firing case, the special investigation team (SIT) led by Punjab additional director general of police (ADGP) LK Yadav has failed to file a fresh chargesheet.

On October 14, 2015, police had opened fire at people protesting at Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan against a sacrilege incident.

On October 14, 2015, police had opened fire at people protesting at Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan against a sacrilege incident that had taken place at Bargari in Faridkot district. While two protesters were killed in Behbal Kalan, several were injured in Kotkapura.

In April last year, the Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) had quashed all reports related to the Kotkapura firing filed by the previous SIT. Acting on the court orders, on May 7, the state government had constituted a new three-member SIT headed by ADGP LK Yadav and tasked with completing the probe within six months.

On Sunday, while seeking three months’ time to complete the probe in the Behbal Kalan firing case, a delegation of the state government had told the victims’ kin and others sitting on a dharna that the SIT probing the Kotkapur incident was constituted on the directions of the high court (HC), and the government could not interfere in its working as it was reporting directly to courts.

The road blocks

The SIT has been facing various legal and procedural tangles, it is learnt, which have led to the delay in filing the chargesheet against cops, including former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini, and others named in the FIR.

It faced a major road block in September 2021, after the HC stayed all investigations in cases pending against Saini till February 2022, which was later extended till April 20. After the Supreme Court’s intervention, the HC on April 8 has ordered that Saini would join the investigation in all FIRs. According to the Punjab advocate general, Saini is required in five cases, including FIR 129 (Kotkapura firing case) and FIR 130 (Behbal Kalan firing case).

An officer privy to the investigation said as the court has asked Saini to join investigations, even in which he is protected, the SIT will consult legal experts to file a chargesheet. “Saini has a very significant role in this case; so without him, a key link will be missing, which is the main reason behind the delay,” the official said.

Meanwhile, it has been eight months since suspended IG Paramraj Singh Umranangal gave his consent to undergo a lie-detector test in connection with the case, but the SIT is still awaiting a date from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) at Gandhinagar in Gujarat to conduct it.

Besides Umranangal, the SIT in June last year had also sought permission to conduct lie-detector tests on Saini and former Moga senior superintendent of police Charanjit Singh Sharma, but the two had refused to give their consent. Last week, the SIT sought their voice samples for layered voice analysis, but both failed to appear at the CFSL in New Delhi to give the samples.

Short of a member

Besides ADGP LK Yadav, the SIT comprised IG Rakesh Agrawal and DIG Surjit Singh. It’s been nearly two months since the DIG retired, but the Punjab Police are yet to appoint a new member in his place.

DIG Surjit Singh retired in February, but according to the insiders, no recommendation has been made by the SIT head for his replacement so far. Moreover, no SIT member has even visited the district for investigations since the DIG was transferred from Faridkot in January.

Last year, besides cops, the SIT had also questioned a number of politicians, including Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal and party president Sukhbir Singh Badal in connection with the Kotkapura case.