Patiala: Colonel Bath’s kin lift protest after invite from CM Mann

The Colonel and his son Angad were allegedly assaulted by 12 cops over a parking dispute in Patiala on the intervening night of March 13 and 14

The family members of Colonel Pushpinder Singh and army veterans on Monday lifted their sit-in outside the office of Patiala deputy commissioner after chief minister Bhagwant Mann invited them for a meeting on March 31.

Jaswinder Kaur, wife of Colonel Pushpinder Bath, with others during a protest outside Mini Secretariat in Patiala on Monday. (PTI)

The Colonel and his son Angad were allegedly assaulted by 12 cops over a parking dispute in Patiala. The incident took place on the intervening night of March 13 and 14, when the Colonel and his son were at a roadside eatery near Government Rajindra Hospital Patiala.

The family had sat on a protest seeking the arrest of the accused cops, a CBI probe into the incident and the transfer of Patiala SSP Nanak Singh.

Jasvinder Bath, Colonel’s wife, said the decision to lift the protest was taken after an invite from the CM.

“The Punjab chief minister has given us time for a meeting, therefore, we have called off the dharna outside the Patiala DC office. I am hopeful that the CM will take note of our demands and will provide us justice. We will request him (Punjab CM) for a CBI inquiry into the matter and the transfer of Patiala SSP. I am completely broken as justice is being delayed, but this development (meeting with CM) has given me hope that we will get justice,” Jasvinder said.

She said some people were attempting to turn this fight into a conflict between the armed forces and the Punjab Police. “It was purely a fight against injustice. Some miscreants are creating tension between the two forces—the Punjab Police and the Indian Army. I request personnel from both institutions to refrain from making provocative statements against each other,” she said, asking political leaders not to politicise the issue.

Gurtej Dhillon, a family member of Pushpinder Bath, said, “This fight is against the misuse of power by the police. If this isn’t stopped, someone else will become a victim. Demanding justice against police brutality is the democratic right of every citizen, and we will continue our fight until we get justice.”