Kotkapura firing: SIT files supplementary chargesheet with govt sanction to prosecute Badals, 6 cops

Two months after the first chargesheet in the 2015 post-sacrilege police firing case, a special investigation team (SIT) filed a supplementary chargesheet in court on Tuesday along with the Punjab home department sanction to prosecute eight accused, including former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son and former deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal.

The 2,400-page supplementary chargesheet was filed against Parkash Singh Badal, Sukhbir, former director general of police Sumedh Singh Saini, suspended inspector general of police (IGP) Paramraj Singh Umranangal, then DIG Amar Singh Chahal, then Faridkot senior superintendent of police (SSP) Sukhmander Singh Mann and former SSP Charanjit Singh Sharma in an FIR registered in 2018 in connection with the Kotkapura firing case.

The FIR was registered on the recommendation of the Justice Ranjit Singh (retd) commission report that probed the incident.

Also read: 2 sacrilege incidents in Morinda, Faridkot spark outrage; pastor among 3 held

The supplementary chargesheet filed by the SIT led by ADGP LK Yadav is supported by 2,374 pages of facts, documents, sanction order and the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) report.

On February 24, the SIT, set up by the Captain Amarinder Singh-led Congress government in May 2021, had filed a 7,000-page chargesheet in a local court in Faridkot.

The prosecution was sanctioned by the Punjab home department under Section 197 (prosecution to judges and public servants) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) against Badal, Sukhbir, Saini, Umranangal, Chahal, Mann, in FIR-129 registered at Kotkapura city police station on August 7, 2018.

The SIT also filed a supplementary chargesheet against Saini, Umranangal, Mann and then Kotkapura station house officer Gurdeep Singh Pandher in the FIR registered immediately after the incident on October 14, 2015.

On February 24, the SIT filed a chargesheet naming Saini, Umranangal, Mann and Pandher as accused in the FIR registered in 2015. The prosecution was sanctioned by the home department against Saini, Umranangal, Mann and Pandher in this case as well.

An official privy to the development said that the supplementary chargesheet is inclusive of sanction under Section 197 CrPC from the Punjab government to start prosecution against the accused.

“In the sanction, the home department has observed that after going through the entire evidence on record and forensic proof collected by the SIT, prima facie case is made out against the accused. Being a competent authority, the home department granted permission to prosecute all eight accused in both cases,” the official added.

Former SSP Manna and Pandher appeared in the court of judicial magistrate Ajaypal Singh for the hearing in the Kotkapura firing case, while the six other accused, including the Badals, sought exemption from personal appearance, which was granted by the court on Tuesday.

The matter was adjourned to May 16 for further proceedings.

CASE FILE

October 12, 2015: Torn pages of Sikh holy book found in Faridkot’s Bargari village, triggering outrage.

October 14: Two protesters die in police firing in Behbal Kalan; several injured in Kotkapura.

October 15: SAD-BJP govt sets up Justice Zora Singh Commission to look into the case.

October 21: Govt forms SIT headed by then ADGP IPS Sahota to probe sacrilege cases, team told to investigate police firing incidents, too.

July 1, 2016: Zora panel submits report to Punjab govt; not made public.

April 14, 2017: Capt Amarinder Singh-led Congress government forms Justice Ranjit Singh Commission to probe sacrilege and firing incidents.

August 7, 2018: FIR against unidentified cops in Kotkapura case on Ranjit Singh Commission’s recommendations.

August 16: Ranjit Singh Commission submits final probe report to Capt Amarinder Singh.

September 10: State government forms SIT headed by ADGP Prabodh Kumar to probe Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan police firing cases.

May 2019: SIT under Prabodh Kumar files first chargesheet, second chargesheet filed in June, third in November.

January 2021: Probe team files fourth chargesheet.

April 2021: HC quashes all chargesheets in Kotkapura firing case, questioning impartiality of then SIT member IG Kunwar Vijay Pratap.

May 2021: Capt Amarinder Singh govt forms new SIT to probe Kotkapura case with ADGP LK Yadav as its head, forms separate SIT to investigate Behbal Kalan case under IGP Naunihal Singh.

February 24, 2023: SIT headed by ADGP LK Yadav submits chargesheet.