Sukhbir Badal grilled for 3 hrs in Behbal Kalan firing case

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 13

A day after the ADGP LK Yadav-led special investigation team (SIT), probing the Kotkapura police firing incidents, questioned former CM Parkash Singh Badal, another SIT, led by IG Naunihal Singh, probing the Behbal Kalan police firing incident, questioned Sukhbir Badal on Thursday.

He was questioned at the Police Officers Institute, Sector 32, Chandigarh, for almost three hours. The back-to-back questioning of the father-son duo has been held ahead of the seventh anniversary of the firing incidents on Friday.

7th anniversary today

• On Wednesday, ADGP LK Yadav-led SIT, probing the Kotkapura police firing case, had questioned former CM Parkash Singh Badal; the back-to-back questioning of the father-son duo has been held ahead of the seventh anniversary of the firing incidents on Friday
• Details emerging from on-the-spot investigation in Kokapura by the SIT on Tuesday reveal that officials took measurements at the firing site to reach a conclusion on whether it was provoked or illegal

Meanwhile, details emerging from the on-the-spot investigation in Kokapura by the ADGP LK Yadav led-SIT on Tuesday reveal that the SIT officials took measurements at the firing site to reach a conclusion on whether the firing was provoked or illegal.

The Kotkapura police, in their defence of the firing, have been claiming before different investigating authorities that the protesting people had broken barricades and came close to the police, who were on duty to maintain law and order. However, the injured claimed that they were sitting on a peaceful dharna when the police opened fire in order to lift the dharna and clear the road.

The measurements were taken to verify the distance between the wounded person and the alleged position of the cops. The SIT team took forensic experts with them for an analysis.

The firing took place in 2015 on protesters agitating against a series of sacrilege incidents in Punjab. They had gathered at Behbal Kalan and Kotkpaura to block roads. At that time, Parkash Singh Badal was the Chief Minister, while his son and SAD president was the Home Minister, overseeing the Police Department.

Two persons had died in the police firing at Behbal Kalan, while several were injured in Kotkapura. The SIT is trying to ascertain whether the police fired without provocation at the crowd. The SIT is also trying to determine if the decision to open firing was made on the ground by the police and the civil administration or if the orders came from the then DGP, Sumedh Saini, or the CM or the Home Minister.

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