Maur twin blasts: SIT files chargesheet against 3 dera men
The Punjab Police’s special investigation team (SIT) probing the twin bomb blasts in Bathinda district’s Maur town on January 31, 2017, which claimed the lives of seven people, on Wednesday filed chargesheet in the case against three followers of Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda.
The chargesheet was filed in a Talwandi Sabo court a day before a hearing in the Punjab and Haryana High Court over the status of the probe in the case by the new SIT that was formed in October last year.
The high court in October had directed the Punjab government to set up new SIT to be headed by director general of police (law and order) to probe the blasts by superseding the earlier SIT headed by deputy inspector general (DIG) Ranbir Singh Khatra. The court had asked to new SIT to complete the investigation within three months of passing of the order.
The new SIT is headed by ADGP (law and order) Ishwar Singh with Rupnagar range IG Amit Parshad, Bathinda range IG Arun Kumar Mittal and Bathinda senior superintendent of police (SSP) Nanak Singh as its members.
Those named in the challan are Gurtej Singh Kala of Dabwali in Sirsa district, Amrik Singh, who hails from Bhikhi in Mansa but lives in Sangrur and Avtar Singh of Messi Majra village near Pehowa in Haryana.
Kala was in-charge of a workshop at the dera headquarters in Sirsa where the Maruti Suzuki 800 car used in the blasts was allegedly modified. Amrik reportedly worked as a security guard of the dera chief. Avtar was an electrician, who allegedly helped in fixing batteries to the bomb device.
The three are at large and have been declared proclaimed offenders (POs).
Five children were among seven persons who died while 23 were injured in the blasts during a rally of Congress candidate Harminder Singh Jassi, four days before the voting for the Punjab assembly polls. The Jassi’s daughter is married to the son of now jailed dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.