Kin refuse to cremate body, demand FIR against cops

KURUKSHETRA: Accusing the Kurukshetra police of not taking prompt action to save the life of Sikh activist Gurbaksh Singh Khalsa, who committed suicide by jumping off a water tank at his native village Thaska Ali on Tuesday, his family members and relatives refused to cremate his body on Wednesday.

They blocked the road near Thaska Ali since morning, and did not allow the police to carry the body to the village for cremation. They demanded action against the police personnel for threatening to forcibly remove him from water tank on Tuesday evening and failing to take him to hospital in ambulance.

Shahbad sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Satbir Kundu tried to pacify them by forming a committee to look into the matter, but they insisted that an FIR be registerd against the responsible cops under Section 302 (murder charges) of the IPC.

Several leaders of various Sikh outfits reached the village on Wednesday and slammed the authorities for “not even making the required arrangements” near the water tank and said there was no ambulance and he was taken to hospital in a police vehicle.

Khalsa’s son Jujhar Singh has formed a five-member committee to decide the future course of action while former militant Wassan Singh Zaffarwal and other Sikh activists also joined the protest.

A panel of four doctors conducted postmortem on Khalsa’s body at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital in Kurukshetra.

Heavy police was deployed in the village to deal with any untoward incident.

After around 6 hours, protesters agreed to lift the blockade after an assurance from Kurukshetra additional deputy commissioner Dharamvir Singh that an FIR will be registered against unknown cops under Section 306 (abetment to suicide) of IPC.

Later the police brought Khalsa’s body to the cremation ground, but the family members

again refused to cremate it demanding that two constables, who were seen in a video taking Khalsa to hospital in a police vehicle, be suspended and FIR registered against them.

But the police did not accept their demand to register FIR by name, saying that it was a matter of investigation. A deadlock continued on the issue till the last reports came in.

Sources said police may also take action against people, who were supporting Khalsa to climb atop the water tank as some persons were seen with the Sikh activist in a photo near the water tank.