Badal behind Behbal Kalan firing, says Punjab CM Amarinder Singh

Capt said the Akali tenure had witnessed 183 such incidents, of which 121 remained unsolved, in contrast to the 13 incidents have been reported since the Congress government took over, of which 12 had been solved.

Chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday held his predecessor Parkash Singh Badal responsible for the Behbal Kalan police firing in wake of the 2015 Bargari sacrilege incident, saying he was sure the fresh commission of inquiry probing the matter would expose the veteran Akali leader.

Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh. (HT File Photo)

“How can a superintendent of police order firing. He was clearly instructed to do so,” Amarinder said, while addressing a select gathering at a felicitation function organised by Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi) in the national capital.

On October 14, 2015, two persons were killed in a firing by Punjab Police when while they were protesting against the desecration of Guru Granth Sahib in Behbal Kalan village of Faridkot district. The issue led to wide outrage among the Sikh community and finally compelled the Punjab government to transfer then director general of police Sumedh Singh Saini. A fresh commission of inquiry was ordered by Amarinder in this case after he becomes the CM.

Pointing to the spate of sacrilege incidents during the Badal government rule, the CM said the Akali tenure had witnessed 183 such incidents, of which 121 remained unsolved, in contrast to the 13 incidents reported since the Congress government took over, of which 12 had been solved.

The CM said false cases registered under the Badal rule were also a matter of concern and the commission set up by his government to inquiry into those would identify the culprits and bring them to book. More than 1 lakh fake cases had been registered against innocent people by the Akali government, he said, adding that as many as 28 cases had been registered against a boy in Ajnala, clearly showing their vindictiveness.