CHANDIGARH: The family of Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath who was assaulted by Punjab police officials staged a dharna outside the office of Deputy Commissioner Patiala on March 22.
The protest came a day after the Punjab Police registered a fresh FIR based on the statement of Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath. A high-level Special Investigation Team (SIT) has also been set up to expedite investigation.
The family of colonel demanded the inquiry of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the incident and transfer of Senior Superintended of Police of Patiala Nanak Singh.
A large number of ex-servicemen from all over the state joined the protest in support of the family.
Addressing the dharna outside the Deputy Commissioner's Office in Patiala, Jaswinder Kaur, wife of Col Bath said that her husband and son were brutally beaten by policemen.
"We demand that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the incident and Senior Superintendent of Police of Patiala Nanak Singh should be transferred. If the government accepts both these demands we will lift the dharna," she said.
She also said that a witness, who is an auto driver has come forward and confirmed the incident.
"Me and my father were having Maggie at that time when police came from the wrong side of the road and asked us to park the vehicle somewhere else or face consequences," Angad Singh, son of Colonel Bath recounted the incident.
"My father told them that this is not the way to talk to him as he is a serving colonel of the army and is senior to them. As my father was talking to them, one of the inspectors got down from one of the vehicles and punched my dad on his nose," he added.
"The spectacles of my father broke and he fell on the bonnet of the vehicle before falling down. The police also kicked him," he said.
He also said how the police beat him up as he was trying to save his father.
Singh said that the allegations that they were drinking are false and their medical report vindicates their stand.
Deputy Commissioner of Patiala, Preeti Yadav went to the dharna spot outside her office and met the colonel’s wife and requested them to lift their protest assuring that justice would be done.
She said what happened was very unfortunate but the family refused to end the protest, saying that if their demands were not met the protest would continue.
Former External Affairs Minister and former Patiala MP Preneet Kaur was also present in the dharna but not allowed to sit on dias with family.
Kaur demanded the inclusion of senior Army members in the SIT formed to probe the incident. Kaur said, "It is deeply saddening how police officers brutally beat up a serving Army Colonel and his son that night. Even if it had been a common citizen, such an incident would have been condemnable but for this to happen to an Army officer is completely unacceptable. I urge the government to stop dragging its feet and deliver justice to the family."
She further stated, "Today, I have come to this protest not as a politician but as a citizen of this country and as the wife of Captain Amarinder Singh, a former Army officer himself, to stand in solidarity with the family.’’
Kaur demanded, "Now that a high-level SIT has been formed by the Punjab Government, I demand that senior members of the armed forces also be included to ensure a fair probe and strict action must be taken against the erring policemen."
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab had outdone the Bharatiya Janata Party in humiliating and brutalizing the soldiers and the farmers.
"Save the jawan and save the Kisan from Bhagwant Mann”, he remarked in a tweet while expressing his anger and resentment over the way the Mann government treated the soldiers and farmers within a span of two days.
He pointed out, first a serving army colonel and his son were brutally manhandled and within two days, the AAP used its brutal force against the peacefully protesting farmers.
“They neither spared the soldier, nor the farmer”, he remarked, while claiming that the AAP had taken another leaf from the BJP workbook. He wondered as to why was Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann reluctant to take action against the guilty cops, who had confessed to their crime on record during a video call with the wife of the victimized colonel. “Why do you need to protect the guilty cops?” he asked the Chief Minister.
