In a significant update regarding the Behbal Kalan police firing incident in October 2015, 7 witnesses have come forward and accused Kunwar Vijay, a former Inspector General (IG) turned politician, of twisting their statements and making arrests without sufficient evidence.
The application was filed by Krishan Bhagwan’s sons, Sukhraj Singh and Prabhdeep Singh, his father Mohinder Singh, and four key witnesses: Sarabjit Singh, Amritpal Singh, Amandeep Singh, and Karamjit Singh.
They have requested the court to direct the Special Investigation Team (SIT) responsible for investigating the Behbal Kalan firing case to record their fresh statements according to Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPc.).
Ex-IG twisting the Statements in Sacrilege Incident Case
The incident occurred on October 14, 2015, when two Sikh protesters, Gurjeet Singh of Sarawan village and Krishan Bhagwan Singh of Niamiwala village in Faridkot district, were killed while demonstrating against the sacrilege incident.
They argue that the arrests made by Kunwar Vijay in 2020 were “illegal” and claim that – “The officers who were present in Kotkapura at the time were also shown present in Behbal Kalan, which isn’t possible,” they stated.
“Just to use the case for political mileage, high profile officials and people were made accused by Kunwar Vijay,” they added.
Additionally, the witnesses allege that Gursewak Singh Bhanna, Nirmal Singh, and Sukhdev Singh Lambwali were falsely presented as eyewitnesses in the case, despite not being present at the scene. They argue that “He (Kunwar Vijay) manufactured their statements to suit his story in the probe.
Witnesses Allege Unfair Conduct
The witnesses also claim that an accused individual was made an approver, while the witnesses themselves were treated as accused. They mention “Suhail Singh Brar and then Kotkapura station house officer Gurdeep Singh Pandher were witnesses in the case but were made accused.”
Source – hindustantimes.com
In 2020, the main accused, Inspector Pardeep Singh, who was the reader to former Moga SSP Charanjit Singh Sharma, was granted pardon after becoming an approver upon the SIT’s request. However, “while making Pradeep approver his complete statement was not recorded as there is no mention of him attacking protesters,” they alleged.
Also read How Co-Accused Turn to SC After Pardeep’s Killing?
What Ex-IG Kunwar Vijay Pratap Said in Sacrilege Case?
In response to these accusations, Kunwar Vijay maintains that his investigation was conducted correctly and fairly.
The AAP MLA and Ex-IG Kunwar Vijay Pratap said, “Three years after recording their statements, now they have moved court. They have simply turned hostile. This is a big conspiracy to divert the people’s attention as a miscarriage of justice has already been done.”
He further added, “Present SIT, constituted by the state government in 2021, has failed to file even a single chargesheet in two years. My investigation still stands as the writ petition filed in the high court by the accused seeking quashing of chargesheets in the Behbal Kalan case was dismissed in July 2022.” The petition dismissal was due to the formation of a new SIT by the state government.