Khaira alleges Badals cleared in firing incident, police deny

Chandigarh, April 28 (IANS) Punjab Ekta Party President Sukhpal Singh Khaira on Sunday alleged that Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had "cheated" the Sikh community by giving clean chit to former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal in the Behbal Kalan firing incident on Sikhs protesting against sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib.

However, the Punjab Police immediately refuted his claim.

In a statement here, Khaira said that the SIT formed to investigate the role of police and Akali Dal leaders in the Behbal Kalan case on the recommendations of Justice Ranjit Singh Commission had quietly submitted a 'challan' in the Faridkot court on April 24, giving a clean chit to the Badals.

"Amarinder Singh's lofty statements of putting Badals behind bars were only political gimmicks and reflection of his true political character," he alleged.

Khaira stated that the timing of transfer of SIT member, Inspector General Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh, who questioned Badals and filing of 'challan' in his absence has raised many questions about the conspiracy hatched by the Badals to get the officer transferred under the garb of the model code of conduct.

Police soon dismissed the allegations.

"The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Behbal Kalan firing case has categorically rejected the media reports, claiming clean chit to some persons, pointing out that only a single challan filed by it against one accused had been selectively taken into consideration to come to erroneous conclusions," a Punjab Police spokesperson said here.

He said that the case was still under investigation, with many aspects yet to be probed.

"There is no question of giving a clean chit to anyone till the completion of the investigations," he said.

"The 792-page challan submitted in Faridkot court and cited in the media reports was against only one accused i.e. former SSP Charanjit Singh Sharma. The challan was based on strong evidence, with investigation against him on other aspects still in progress," said the spokesperson, adding that after the investigation is completed, a supplementary challan/(s) shall be presented in the court against all those found guilty as per law, including Sharma.

"The fact that investigations were still going on precluded the possibility of clean chit being given to anyone. A single document presented as challan based on partial investigation could not be taken as evidence for giving clean chit to those not mentioned in the challan," he added.

The spokesperson made it clear that action would be taken in accordance with law against anyone found guilty in the case relating to two people being killed and over 20 injured in alleged police firing on Sikh protesters agitating against sacrilege cases of Guru Granth Sahib during in 2015 during the tenure of the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (SAD-BJP) alliance government in Punjab.