On April 25, five-time Chief Minister of Punjab and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Parkash Singh Badal passed away. On the same day, the home department of Punjab gave the nod to prosecute eight accused, including Badal and his son Sukhbir Singh Badal in the Kotkapura police firing case of 2015. The nod came after the Special Investigation Team (SI), probing the case, filed a supplementary chargesheet in a local court along with the prosecution sanction order. The first chargesheet was filed by the SIT two months ago. Government of Punjab has declared public holiday on April 27 in view of Badal’s demise.
The 2,400-page supplementary chargesheet named Parkash Singh Badal, Sukhbir Singh Badal, former director general of Police Sumedh Singh Saini, now-suspended Inspector General of Police Paramraj Singh Umranangal, then-DIG Amar Singh Chahal, then-Senior Superintendent of Police Faridkot Sukhmander Singh Mann and former SSP Charanjit Singh Sharma.
These accused were named in an FIR that was registered in 2018 in connection to the 2015 police firing case. The FIR was registered based on the report submitted by a commission led by Retired Justice Ranjit Singh. SIT probing the case is led by ADGP LK Yadav, who has submitted a chargesheet with documents, a sanction order and a CFSL report. Furthermore, it contained statements of 45 new witnesses and 43 new pieces of evidence. SIT was formed in 2021 by then-Captain Amarinder Singh-led Congress government. In February, a 7,000-page chargesheet was filed by the SIT that contained 218 statements, including 52 protesters and 12 police personnel.
Hindustan Times quoted an unnamed officer speaking about the prosecution under Section 197. He said, “In the sanction, the home department has observed that after going through the entire evidence on record and forensic proof collected by the SIT, a prima facie case is made out against the accused. Being a competent authority, the home department granted permission to prosecute all eight accused in both cases.”
The SIT has also filed a supplementary chargesheet against Mann, Umranangal, Saini and then Station House Officer of Kotkapura Gurdeep Singh Pandher based on an FIR registered in October 2015. The matter will be heard on May 16.
The police firing incident of 2015
On October 14, 2015, police opened fire at the people protesting at Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura against the sacrilege of Shri Guru Granth Sahib in Bargari Village. Two Sikh protesters, identified as Gurjeet Singh of Sarawan village and Krishan Bhagwan Singh of Niamiwala village in Faridkot, were shot dead during the firing. Sacrilege incidents have been one of the hottest topics during elections in the state. From Akali Dal to Congress and now Aam Aadmi Party promised the voters to take strict action in matters related to sacrilege incidents, but the situation mostly remained the same.