Punjab: Firing victims’ kin term Behbal Kalan case transfer AAP govt’s failure

After the Punjab and Haryana high court transferred the 2015 Behbal Kalan firing case from Faridkot to Chandigarh on Friday, family members of the victims termed it the failure of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government to pursue the matter properly in court in Punjab.

The high court bench of Justice Avneesh Jhingan allowed the transfer application of former Moga senior superintendent of police (SSP) Charanjit Singh Sharma, an accused in the case.

Also read: HC transfers Behbal Kalan firing case from Faridkot to Chandigarh

In 2019, citing threat to his life, Sharma appealed to the high court to transfer the case outside Punjab while referring to the killings of Dera Sacha Sauda followers, who were accused in the sacrilege cases.

Sharma’s counsel HS Saini said that the high court allowed the application for transfer of the case outside the state on grounds of threat to life. “The court has decided the matter on merit,” he added.

The case dates back to October 14, 2015, when police opened fire at people protesting at Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan against a sacrilege incident at Bargari in Faridkot district. While two protesters, Gurjeet Singh of Sarawan village and Krishan Bhagwan Singh of Niamiwala village in Faridkot district, were killed in Behbal Kalan, several protesters were injured in Kotkapura.

Sukhraj Singh, son of Krishan Bhagwan, said that first the Bargari sacrilege cases were transferred from Punjab and now the Behbal Kalan firing case had also been shifted to Chandigarh. “This is the failure of the AAP government. It had promised prompt justice but the opposite happened. The state government’s legal team failed to put up facts correctly. The AAP did nothing to deliver justice, but only played politics for votes,” he said.

“My father was killed in the police action but the accused managed to get the case transferred to Chandigarh. They want to delay and weaken the case through these tactics. This shows the government has no intention to punish the accused. We will oppose this and do everything possible. I will consult my legal team before proceeding,” he added.

The previous Punjab Police special investigation team (SIT) led by ADGP Pramod Kumar had filed five chargesheets against seven accused in the Behbal Kalan case. The first chargesheet was filed in April 2019, naming Charanjeet Sharma as the conspirator, while the last supplementary chargesheet, filed in January 2021, named ex-DGP Sumedh Singh Saini and IGP Paramraj Singh Umranangal as masterminds. One accused, inspector Pardeep Singh, has turned approver in this case.

After the high court quashed the findings in the Kotkapura case, filed by the SIT member and then IGP Kunwar Vijay Pratap, now an AAP MLA, the government formed a new probe team for a fresh investigation led by IGP Naunihal Singh on May 15, 2021. A new three-member SIT headed by ADGP LK Yadav was also formed to probe the Kotkapura firing case. Even three years after its reconstitution, the SIT led by Naunihal Singh has failed to conclude its probe into the 2015 Behbal Kalan police firing case and submit a supplementary chargesheet.