High court grants bail to former DSP, SHO in 2015 FIR

AS PER THE FIR, SOME EMPTY CARTRIDGES WERE MISSING AND OFFICIAL RECORD WAS FABRICATED; THE FIRING WAS RESULT OF PROTESTS AGAINST THE SERIES OF GURU GRANTH SAHIB SACRILEGE INCIDENTS

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Friday granted bail to two Punjab Police officers accused in Kotkapura firing incident.

The FIR in this regard was registered on October 14, 2015, in which former deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Baljit Singh and then station house officer (SHO) Gurdip Singh are accused of conspiracy and fabricating evidence.

As per the FIR, some empty cartridges were missing and official record was fabricated.

At that time, Baljit was posted as DSP, whereas Gurdeep Singh was the SHO.

While Baljit has been granted pre-arrest bail, Gurdip, who is in custody, has been granted regular bail.

The firing was result of protests against the series of the incidents of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib.

As protest turned violent, police had to use force, which resulted in the lodging of the

FIR. The court said that it would not be appropriate to make any observation on the merits of the case at this stage.

The Punjab Police special investigation team (SIT), on Thursday had filed chargesheet in this FIR before a Faridkot court.

Both have been named in another FIR registered on August 7, 2018, in the same incident, but have secured bail from the high court. Allegations in this FIR are of attempt to murder, voluntary causing hurt and wrongful restraint.