Faridkot court rejects bail pleas of Saini, Umranangal

A Faridkot court on Tuesday rejected the anticipatory bail pleas of former director general of police Sumedh Singh Saini, suspended inspector general of police Paramraj Singh Umranangal and former senior superintendent of police Charanjit Singh Sharma in connection with the 2015 Kotkapura firing incident.

The court of additional session and district judge Rajiv Kalra dismissed the bail applications of Saini, Umranangal and Sharma in the first information report (FIR) registered in 2018. The FIR was registered on the recommendation of justice Ranjit Singh (retd) commission report, which probed the Kotkapura firing incident.

Earlier last week, the Faridkot court had granted anticipatory bail to Parkash Singh Badal but denied bail pleas of Sukhbir and SSP Sukhminder Mann.

On February 24, the Punjab Police special investigation team (SIT) led by ADGP LK Yadav filed a charge sheet in a Faridkot court naming former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, his son and then home minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and five police officers, including Saini, Umranangal, Sharma, Mann and former DIG Amar Singh Chahal. Following the charge sheet, Faridkot judicial magistrate ordered all eight accused to appear before the court on March 23.

SIT in its charge sheet has claimed Umranangal in furtherance of conspiracy with Sumedh Saini immediately after speaking with him passed illegal orders to Charanjit Sharma, then SSP Moga, Amar Singh Chahal, then DIG-Ferozepur, and Sukhminder Singh Mann, then SSP-Faridkot, to abet excessive and illegal force against Nitnem reciting protestors.

“DGP Saini, IG Umranangal, SSP Sharma, DIG Chahal and SSP Mann had the requisite knowledge that their conduct in initiating the use of force during Nitnem paath was reckless and devoid of legality and in all probability act as a provocation to peaceful protestors,” SIT claims in the charge sheet.

Court grants bail to four cops in other FIR

Meanwhile, the court allowed bail pleas of Saini, Umranangal, former SSP Sukhminder Singh Mann, and then Kotkapura station house officer (SHO) inspector Gurdeep Singh Pandher in an FIR registered immediately after the incident on October 14, 2015. On February 24, SIT also filed a charge sheet naming Saini, Umranangal, Mann and Pandher as accused in FIR registered in 2015.

In Kotkapura, several Sikh protesters were injured after police opened fire on October 14, 2015, during a stir against the Bargari sacrilege incident.