Chandigarh: It is learnt that former Punjab police chief Sumedh Saini appeared before Justice Ranjit Singh Commission few days back. The commission is inter alia probing an incident of police firing at Behbal Kalan village near Kotkapura on 14 October, 2015 in which two Sikhs were killed by a police party led by the then Moga SSP Charanjit Sharma.
As per reports Sumedh Saini’s name had emerged during probe of Justice Ranjit Singh Commission. He was summoned by the Commission to appear before it in later part of 2017 but the then DGP did not respond to Commission’s summons.
⊕ READ IT: LIVED FOR OVER 100 YEARS, AMAR KAUR DIES AWAITING JUSTICE IN KILLINGS CASE AGAINST SUMEDH SAINI
Sumedh Saini, who retired from police on June 30, had reportedly filed a reply with the commission after his retirement but the commission issued fresh summons directing Sumedh Saini to make representation before the commission.
As per certain news reports, Sumedh Saini appeared before the commission on June 15. A report in Ajit newspaper notes that the commission had included certain remarks about Sumedh Saini in the first part of its report that was handed over to Punjab CM on 30 June, 2018.
There are unconfirmed reports that the commission has found some sort of evidence which shows that Sumedh Saini had ordered the police party on ground to take strict action against Sikhs who were staging a demonstration against Bargari beadbi incident on a link road leading of Behbal Kalan village.
• → ALSO READ: DGP SUMEDH SAINI’S CASE A CLASSICAL EXAMPLE OF HOW A STATE PROTECTS ITS INSTRUMENT
– – – – – – – – – – – — – – – – –
About Bargari Beadbi Incident, Behbal Kalan Firing and Commissions of Inquiries Setup in this Matter :
Bargari Beadbi Incident: A saroop of Guru Granth Sahib was stolen from village Burj Jawahar Singh Wala on June 01, 2015. After which some posters were pasted in that village challenging Sikhs to find the stolen Saroops. On October 12, 2015 Beadbi of Guru Granth Sahib was committed in Bargari village and it is believed that the culprits committed beadbi of Saroop that was stolen from village Burj Jawahar Singh Wala.
Police Firing at Behbal Kalan:
On October 15, 2015 the Punjab police had opened fire Sikh sangat staging a sit-in on a local road leading to Behbal Kalan village on Kotkapura-Bathinda road. Two Sikhs namely Bhai Gurjeet Singh of Sarawan village and Bhai Krishan Bhagwan Singh of Niamiwala village were killed in this firing while several other Sikhs were injured. The Sikh protesters were demanding action against culprits of Beadbi of Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari.
Justice Zora Singh Commission:
The then Punjab government led Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) and BJP government had formed a commission led by Justice Zora Singh to probe the incident. The commission had submitted its report on July 2016 but it failed to find the culprits of Beadbi incident at Bargari or those responsible for police firing at Behbal Kalan village.
Justice Ranjit Singh Commission:
After assuming power in Punjab, the Congress party government led by Capt. Amarinder Singh announced to scrap the report submitted by Justice Zora Singh and announced to form another commission led by Justice Ranjit Singh. The commission was appointed in April 2017 and it was required to submit its report with in six month but the commission submitted one of four parts of its report on June 30, 2018.
People’s Commission Led by Justice Markandey Katju:
Various human rights groups of Punjab had formed a ‘people’s commission’ led by former Supreme Court of India (SCI) judge Markandey Katju. Justice Katju commission had held the high-ups in Punjab police as responsible for the police firing at Behbal Kalan. But People’s Commission’s report was neither recognised by the SAD (Badal) government nor by Capt. Amarinder Singh led Congress government.
EYE-WITNESS ACCOUNTS: