Behbal Kalan firing probe shifted to Ferozepur police

Balwant Garg

Tribune News Service

Fairdkot, February 18

More than two years after the killing of two Sikh protesters in police firing at Behbal Kalan village of Faridkot district, the inquiry has been shifted to the Ferozepur police.

The move followed the failure of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Faridkot police to identify the guilty police officials and the weapons used. Justice Ranjit Singh (retd), who heads an inquiry commission set up by the ruling Congress to probe cases of sacrilege and the police firing incident, had rapped the state police recently for no progress in the case.

The then Akali-BJP government had set up the Justice Zora Singh (retd) inquiry commission for the purpose.

MS Chhina, IG, confirmed that the investigation had been handed over to the Ferozepur police. So far, no erring police official has been named in the case even after more than two years of the incident, said Resham Singh, brother of victim Krishan Bhagwan Singh.

It is claimed that the bullets recovered from the body of Gurjit Singh and Krishan Bhagwan Singh were tampered with as these did not match with the weapons submitted for the ballistic test.

Resham Singh alleged: “While there is no mention of tampering in the ballistic report of the Punjab Forensic Science Laboratory, the latter maintained that the bullets did not tally with the weapons, giving the benefit of the doubt to the guilty police officials.”

Eyewash, says Dal Khalsa

Bathinda: Radical Sikh outfit Dal Khalsa said the move to shift the probe to the Ferozepur police was an eyewash aimed at denying justice to the aggrieved families. In a press release issued on Sunday, party president HS Cheema and vice-president Hardeep Singh Mehraj said prosecuting the culprits of the Behbal Kalan firing was a challenge that the Capt Amarinder Singh government must accept and adequately respond to. They said shifting the case from one district to another made no sense as the “same police” would handle the probe. TNS