KOTKAPURA POLICE FIRING Ranjit panel report made part of chargesheet

The Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report has been made part of the chargesheet filed by the special investigation team (SIT) probing 2015 sacrilege and police firing incidents, in Kotkapura firing case.

The fresh chargesheet was presented before district and sessions judge Harpal Singh on Friday and its copies were supplied to all the accused, including suspended inspector general of police (IGP) Paramraj Singh Umranangal and former Akali MLA Mantar Singh Brar.

A 700-page supplementary chargesheet has additional evidence, including call details of some officials.

The Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report, which was earlier not a part of the SIT’s chargesheet filed in the court, has been included in the supplementary chargesheet.

“We have received the copies of the supplementary challan. Along with additional evidence, a certain part of Justice Ranjit Singh Commission has been included in this challan,” said Umaranangal’s counsel Gursahib Singh Brar.

In the chargesheet, the SIT has also made reference to a 1994 triple murder case in which one of the accused in Kotkapura police firing case, then ADCP Paramjit Singh Pannu, along with former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini, has been named accused by CBI in its chargesheet.

The SIT has also included the copy of an FIR registered at police station Bathinda against jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim under the charges of blasphemy.

Following the supplementary chargesheet, the arguments on framing charges were postponed and the hearing was adjourned to December 13.

“The supplementary challan was submitted in the lower court by SIT on November 15. It was committed to the sessions court. The copies of the challan have been supplied to the accused. The SIT has submitted some additional evidence in the supplementary chargesheet,” said district attorney Rajnish Goyal.

SIT member and IGP Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh also filed an application in the sessions court seeking to exclude the call details of five mobile numbers from the copies of the supplementary challan supplied to accused. He told the court that disclosure of these details to the accused would not be in the interest of the justice at this stage. These numbers belonged to then Moga deputy commissioner TS Gill, then DIG (now IG) Amar Singh Chahal and then Moga superintendent of police Harjit Singh.

However, the session court has included the call details in the copies supplied to the accused.