Set up new SIT to ensure justice to Kotkapura victims: Bajwa

Says material collected during the investigation of the case was already with the government and the previous SIT

Congress Rajya Sabha member Partap Singh Bajwa on Friday sought the constitution of a new special investigation team (SIT) to probe the Kotkapura police firing case to give justice to the victims at the earliest.

Set up new SIT to ensure justice to Kotkapura victims: Bajwa

In a statement here, Bajwa said the material collected during the investigation of the case was already with the government and the previous SIT and the new team will be able to complete its probe within a given timeframe of one month and file challans against the culprits.

The Punjab and Haryana high court had last week quashed the probe reports submitted by Punjab Police in two FIRs registered in connection with the 2015 violence, directing the state government to constitute a new SIT, excluding inspector general of police (IGP) Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh.

The Rajya Sabha MP said one of the options being considered by chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh was to challenge the high court verdict in the Supreme Court. “It is obvious that even if a stay is granted on the impugned order of the high court, the final decision would take time, thus hampering the investigation and delaying justice to the victims of the Kotkapura case. Therefore, even in the best possible situation of getting a stay, the ultimate aim of giving justice to the victims even after five years would remain elusive,” he said, supporting the constitution of another SIT as the second option available in the interim.

Bajwa, who earlier termed the quashing of the SIT report a loss of face for the Congress government, said the high court verdict was a monumental failure of the state advocate general Atul Nanda and his office. The AG and his team of lawyers were unable to defend the interests of the state despite the professional and efficient investigation done by Kunwar Vijay and the SIT team, he said, adding that the SIT had done its duty to investigate this sensitive issue for over two years and the government must look for a solution. On Wednesday, Bajwa had demanded Nanda’s resignation in the wake of the setback suffered by the state government in the high court.