SIT files challan in Kotkapura firing case, Sukhbir Singh Badal & Sumedh Singh Saini named as masterminds of conspiracy

Faridkot SSP Harjit Singh, while talking to the media, said, “The SIT is investigating two FIRs lodged in the Kotkapura firing incident — one was lodged in 2015 and the other in 2018. During the investigation, the SIT had presented a challan in the court against eight accused persons. These are: Parkash Singh Badal (former CM), Sukhbir Singh Badal (former home minister), Sumedh Singh Saini (former DGP), Amar Singh Chahal (retired DIG), Paramraj Umranangal (the then Ludhiana Commissioner oof IG rank), Sukhmander Singh Mann (the then SSP Faridkot, Charanjit Singh Sharma (the then SSP Moga) and Gurdeep Singh (the then SHO of Kotkapura). The investigation in both the cases is on.”

The challan has been filed in 17 parts in which the then home minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and the then DGP Sumedh Singh Saini have been mentioned as the masterminds of the conspiracy for illegal and excess use of force to conceal inaction of state on a series of three sacrilege incidents in the Burj Jawahar Singh Wala and Bargari villages (affixing of derogatory poster opposite the wall of Bargari gurdwara and scattering of pages from the Angs Shri Guru Granth Sahib near the gurdwara site). The challan also mentions the then Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal as a facilitator in the execution of conspiracy.

A few police officers have also been named as executors of the conspiracy. These include the then Ludhiana Commissioner Param Raj Umranangal, the then DIG Amar Singh Chahal and the then Faridkot SSP Sukhmander Singh Mann. Mann has also been blamed for distortion and concealment of facts. The then SSP Moga Charanjit Singh has been named too for the execution of the conspiracy while SHO Gurdeep Singh has been named for distortion and concealment of facts.

Out of the total 7,000 pages, a total of 1,400 pages are on culpability and the chargesheet while the rest of the 5,600 pages are on supportive documents and electronic evidence and the revealed information. Charges in the challan are under Sections of attempt to murder (307) criminal conspiracy (120B), IPC, 25/27 -54/59 Arms Act and various other sections of the IPC which are 153, 119, 109, 34, 201, 217, 218, 167, 193, 465, 466, 471, 427, 323, 324 and 504.

It needs to be mentioned that the SIT headed by ADGP Yadav was formed on May 7, 2021 during the tenure of the then Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh following the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which had quashed the report submitted by the SIT headed by then IG Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh on April 9, 2021. Partap had resigned after his report had been quashed and later had joined the Aam Aadmi Party. He is now an AAP MLA from Amritsar North.

The Yadav-led SIT was supposed to submit its report within six months, however, finally the SIT submitted its challan after more than 21 months of its formation. Partap, who is very vocal against his own government, had in the past said that the SIT formed during the Congress government can’t deliver justice.

Kotkapura Firing: What had happened

On June 1, 2015, the Guru Granth Sahib was stolen from Gurdwara Burj Jawahar Singh Wala of Kotkapura constituency of Faridkot district following which people had lodged various protests and had demanded the police to find the culprit soon.

While the case couldn’t be solved, on September 24 and 25, posters containing derogatory remarks about the Guru Granth Sahib and a few Sikh religious leaders were pasted on the walls of houses in the Bargari village of Kotkapura.

The posters were also pasted on a wall opposite the gurdwara of the Bargari village. This was followed by another incident on October 12, 2015 when torn pages of the Guru Granth Sahib were found in the streets of Bargari village following which, a dharna had been started on the Kotkapura Chowk demanding action from the then SAD-BJP government to arrest the culprits.

The protesters had also met the then deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal in the first week of October at Kotkapura. However, on October 14, 2015, in order to disperse the protestors from the Kotkapura Chowk, a firing and lathicharge ensued in which a few persons were injured. This was followed by a firing at Behbal Kalan village on the same day to disperse another set of protesters in which two persons — Krishan Bhagwan Singh and Gurjeet Singh — were killed. After these incidents widespread protests had started in Punjab for a couple of days and traffic had been halted by protestors on most of the highways of the state.

Soon after, the SAD-BJP government formed an SIT led by the then ADGP IPS Sahota who had called the incidents handiwork of some foreign handlers. On November 30, 2015, another SIT headed by IG Ranbir Singh Khattra had been formed to probe the Kotkapura firing case while the CBI had been handed over the sacrilege cases of Bargari and Burj Jawahar Singh Wala at the same time. However, the Captain Amarinder Singh-led Congress government had taken back this investigation from the CBI after taking a decision in the Punjab legislative Assembly in September 2018.

Another SIT led by the then ADGP Prabodh Kumar had been formed by the Congress government in May 2018 in which IG Kunwar Vijay Partap was one of the SIT members. The SIT report of Partap had mentioned that the sacrilege incidents were the handiwork of Sukhbir Badal, Sumedh Saini and the chief of the Dera Sacha Sauda. However, his report was quashed by the high court after which a fresh SIT was formed by Captain Amarinder Singh. The Yadav-led SIT had questioned Sukhbir Badal as well as Parkash Singh Badal during the course of investigation.

It is worth mentioning that the Bargari Insaaf Morcha protest is still on at the Behbal Kalan firing site since December 16, 2021 and the protestors will soon decide whether to continue with the dharna or not.

The next date of hearing in this case is March 6 when the scrutiny of documents will be done.