Col Bath assault case: Departmental inquiry recommends action against 4 Patiala cops

In a major development in the alleged attack case on a serving Army Colonel, a departmental inquiry by Patiala SSP has recommended severe action against four erring inspectors and two other officials, including deduction in service and stay on promotions.

The recommendations have been issued against the officers, who will be given a chance to respond to them.

According to officials, three years of service deduction for these officers, and no salary increments for the same period have been recommended. “Also, these police officers will not get any promotions for three years, and there will be no salary additions for them too,” said an official.

The police have also made it clear in their recommendations that all these officials will remain suspended and will be posted “only outside Patiala.”

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has already handed over the probe in the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which has registered an FIR in the matter. Despite the case being over four months old, no accused policeman has been arrested so far.

Meanwhile, Patiala SSP Varun Sharma confirmed that he had recommended the action based on the findings of an inquiry conducted by an SP-level officer. “The accused can reply to the recommendations of the probe report,” he said.

The Patiala Police had earlier registered an FIR against three inspectors—Harry Boparai, Ronnie Singh, and Harjinder Dhillon—along with other police personnel, under Sections 109 (abetment of attempt to murder), 310, 155(2), 117(2) (both related to voluntarily causing hurt), 126(2) (wrongful restraint), and 351(2) (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The name of the fourth inspector was later added to the FIR under Sections 299 and 191 of the BNS.

The case

The alleged incident occurred on the intervening night of March 13 and 14, when Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath and his son were at a roadside eatery near Government Rajindra Hospital in Patiala. The family claimed that while they were standing outside their car and eating, some police officers in civilian clothes approached them and asked the Colonel to move his vehicle so they could park theirs. Later, over a dozen police personnel allegedly attacked the Colonel and his son using rods and sticks, leaving them badly injured.