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Punjab Police SIT summons Sukhbir in Kotkapura firing case on August 30
Former deputy CM and Akali leader Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was the home minister when the Kotkapura firing took place in 2015, has been asked to appear with relevant records before the SIT in Chandigarh at 10.30am on August 30
The Punjab Police special investigation team (SIT) probing the post-sacrilege police firing incident at Kotkapura in 2015 has summoned former deputy chief minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal to appear on August 30 for questioning.
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The move comes days after the Faridkot district and sessions court said that the proceedings in the Behbal Kalan firing case will not move further in the trial court until the chargesheet in the Kotkapura firing case is filed by the SIT.
Sukhbir, who was the home minister when the Kotkapura firing took place, has been asked to appear with the relevant records before the SIT at 10.30am on August 30 at Punjab Police Officers’ Institute, Sector 32, Chandigarh, in connection with two first information reports (FIRs) registered at the Kotkapura city police station on October 14, 2015, and August 7, 2018.
Summons dated August 18 were issued under Section 160 (police officer’s power to require attendance of witnesses) of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). However, it was not received by Sukhbir as he was not in the country at that time.
This is the first time during the Aam Aadmi Party regime that Sukhbir will be quizzed in connection with Kotkapura firing incident. Two SITs have questioned Sukhbir three times in this case. The SIT led by additional director general of police (ADGP) LK Yadav, which was formed last year in May, had questioned Sukhbir in June 2021.
Earlier, the SIT led by former IG Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, who is now an AAP MLA, had questioned the SAD chief in November 2018.
Last month, the SIT questioned former director general of police (DGP) Sumedh Singh Saini and filed a status report in Faridkot court.
On July 12, the trial court in Faridkot directed both SITs probing Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan firing cases to submit their status reports within a fortnight. Another SIT led by IG Naunihal Singh is probing the Behbal Kalan police firing incident.
It has been learnt that the SIT in the status report submitted to the court said it may take a few more months to complete the probe into the Kotkapura firing incident.
On August 16, the SIT along with a forensic science lab (FSL) team visited the Kotkpaura firing site, where the firing took place on October 14, 2015. It has been learnt that the team visited the site early in the morning to match the exact time when the incident took place with the purpose of recreating the crime scene.
A chargesheet (now quashed) filed in the court by Kunwar Vijay in May 2019 had said that incidents of desecration of Guru Granth Sahib were “a pre-planned handiwork of then deputy CM Sukhbir Badal, then DGP Saini and Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda”.
The Kunwar-led SIT had claimed that the post-sacrilege firing incidents at Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan were part of a conspiracy and directions came from the top.
On April 9, 2021, questioning the impartiality of Kunwar Vijay, the Punjab and Haryana high court had quashed all chargesheets filed by the SIT in the Kotkapura firing case. The court also directed the state government to reconstitute a new SIT without him. Following this, the then Congress government constituted an SIT led by ADGP LK Yadav in May, 2021.
