Saini, Umranangal denied interim relief from arrest

Move comes a day before EX-DGP and Umaranangal are slated to appear in court; matter adjourned till Feb 11

FARIDKOT : The Faridkot district and sessions court on Monday refused to give interim relief from arrest to former Punjab director general of police (DGP) Sumedh Singh Saini and suspended inspector general of police (IGP) Paramraj Singh Umranangal in the 2015 Behbal Kalan firing case.

Saini and Umaranangal had filed anticipatory bail petitions in the court of district and sessions judge Sumeet Malhotra who declined the defence counsel’s request to grant relief till the next hearing and adjourned the matter to February 11. “The court will pass an appropriate order only after hearing all the parties,” the judge said.

The move comes a day before Saini and Umaranangal are slated to appear in the court of

PFaridkot judicial magistrate Suresh Kumar in connection with the supplementary chargesheet filed by the SIT against the two in the case.

District attorney Rajnish Goyal said the state government filed a reply on the bail applications. “The defence counsel argued for interim relief from arrest till the next hearing but we strongly opposed it as the accused already have protection from the high court. Therefore, the bail is not maintainable,” he added. The Punjab and Haryana high court had asked the SIT to give Saini and Umranangal a seven-day notice before initiating action against them.

Probe not complete: SIT During the hearing, the SIT told the court that the probe against both the accused was not complete and another supplementary chargesheet may be filed against them with additional evidence. On September 10, 2020, the SIT had told a Faridkot court that then DGP Saini and Umranangal were the main conspirators in the Behbal Kalan firing incident. On September 28, the SIT named them as accused and a chargesheet was filed against them on January 15.

The defence counsel argued for interim relief from arrest till the next hearing but we strongly opposed it as the accused already have protection from the HC. RAJNISH GOYAL, district attorney