Former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini nominated as accused in Behbal Kalan firing case

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, September 28

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Behbal Kalan police firing incident of October 14, 2015, on Monday nominated then Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini and then IGP Paramraj Singh Umranangal as accused in the case of murder and attempt to murder.

As per the report received at Bajakhana police station in Faridkot on Monday, the SIT has asked the police to nominate both police officers as accused in the FIR.

The SIT claimed that both police officers had been found prima facie guilty in this case on the basis of documentary evidence and the statement of witnesses.

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Former SSP Charanjit Singh Sharma, two SP rank police officers and many other police officials were already nominated as accused in this case.

A week after the killing of two Sikh protestors in a police firing at Behbal Kalan on October 14, 2015, an FIR was registered on October 21 at Bajakhana police station under Section 302, 307, 34 of the IPC and Section 25, 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act. The complainant in this FIR was Iqbal Singh Sahota, director, bureau of investigation-cum-chairman, Special Investigation Team (SIT), which was constituted on the directions of Punjab DGP.

Earlier, no police officer was nominated as an accused in this FIR but later, the SIT nominated Charanjit Sharma and others as accused. Now the SIT has also nominated former DGP and former IGP as accused in this case.

Earlier this month, the SIT had approached the district and sessions court Faridkot with a petition, seeking pardon for prime accused inspector Pardeep Singh, the then reader to former SSP Charanjit Singh Sharma, as he wanted to turn an approver in the case. Last week, the court had granted its permission to accept Pardeep as an approver in this case.

In his statement before the court, Pardeep Singh had claimed that Sumesh Singh Saini and IGP Paramraj Singh Umranangal had issued instructions to former SSP Charanjit Singh Sharma to end the protesters' dharna at Behbal Kalan at any cost, and to end this protest, Charanjit Singh Sharma and his team members allegedly used brutal force in which two protesters were killed and many other were injured.

The SIT believes that the then DGP and the IGP were the main conspirators in this case.