CHANDIGARH: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president and former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal appeared before a Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Saturday in connection with the 2015 Behbal Kalan police firing case.
Badal was summoned by the SIT headed by Deputy Inspector General (Bathinda Range) Harjit Singh at the Punjab Police Officers Institute (PPOI) in Chandigarh's Sector 32. He was accompanied by senior SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia and Balwinder Singh Bhundar. Party leaders and supporters gathered outside the venue, while heavy police deployment was made around the institute.
Before appearing before the SIT, Badal accused the AAP-led Punjab government of misusing investigative agencies for political vendetta instead of ensuring justice.
“The Akali Dal’s storm has started and it will ruin the AAP. Both AAP and Congress have been playing politics over the sacrilege issue. The government has no interest in giving justice on sacrilege. It is solely indulging in politics. People know the truth, and the community (sangat) will deliver justice in four months when the state goes to the polls,” he said.
“We will hold Bhagwant Mann responsible for all his sins. He will be made to appear at this same place in front of the same in front of the same police officers and will be held to account. The SIT has summoned me today to divert attention from the sacrilegious acts of the CM including sprinkling liquor on the portrait of Guru Sahiban and allegedly trying to urinate on the picture of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Such acts cannot mitigate the anger and anguish of the people against the chief minister. The Shiromani Akali Dal will continue to expose his misdeeds and will not be intimidated by such tactics," he added.
After nearly two hours of questioning, Badal said he had appeared before the SIT for the fourth time and had always cooperated with the investigation.
“I have always respected the law and the Constitution. As president of a responsible political party, I will continue to cooperate with the investigation whenever I am called because I have nothing to hide,” he said.
He questioned why the investigation had not identified those responsible even after 11 years and alleged that the AAP and Congress governments had used the sacrilege issue for political gains.
Sources said the SIT issued the notice after questioning former Union minister and BJP leader Vijay Sampla last week. Sampla reportedly denied signing a joint memorandum submitted to the then Punjab Governor in January 2018 seeking a judicial probe into the incidents and sought certified copies of the documents shown to him.
According to sources, the SIT has also recorded statements from former SAD MLA Mantar Singh Brar and others while investigating the events leading to the police firing. The probe gained momentum after statements by Brar and former Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh.
The case relates to the police firing on October 14, 2015, at Behbal Kalan in Faridkot district, where two protesters were killed during protests over the desecration of Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari.
The incidents included the theft of a copy of Guru Granth Sahib from Burj Jawahar Singh Wala gurdwara, handwritten sacrilegious posters in Bargari and Burj Jawahar Singh Wala, and torn pages of the holy book found at Bargari.
The protests led to police firing at Behbal Kalan, in which Gurjeet Singh and Krishan Bhagwan Singh were killed. Several others were injured at Kotkapura.
The Shiromani Akali Dal was in power in Punjab at the time, with the late Parkash Singh Badal as Chief Minister and Sukhbir Singh Badal as Deputy Chief Minister holding the home portfolio.
