Probe indicts ex-Jaitu SHO for moral policing
FARIDKOT:A magisterial probe has found former Jaitu station house officer (SHO) Gurmeet Singh guilty of detaining four students, including a girl, illegally and also misbehaving with them.
Inspector Gurmeet, whose moral policing of three students on January 12 started a chain of events that led to the death of two policemen, including a DSP on January 29.
It started on January 12, when three students of University College, Jaitu – two boys and a girl – were allegedly picked up from a bus stand by Gurmeet for “creating nuisance” and taken to the police station. The students complained of “moral policing” and student unions began protests, seeking action against the SHO.
On January 29, two weeks after the initial incident, students were again protesting at the college, when DSP Baljinder Singh Sandhu shot himself in the head, in the middle of the protest. When the DSP shot himself in the temple, the bullet went through and injured a constable standing nearby, who too died.
The probe was conducted by Faridkot assistant commissioner (grievances) Jagdish Johal, who submitted the report to deputy commissioner Rajiv Prashar. The report has been forwarded to the SSP for action.
The report, a copy of which is with HT, found that the incident of January 29 in which Sandhu shot himself could have been avoided. The report says Gurmeet did not cooperate with Sandhu and violated Supreme Court orders that a woman should be arrested only in the presence of a woman constable. The probe found contradictions in his statement as he denied all allegations of moral policing and detention. “If he did nothing wrong, what forced him to tender a public apology?” mentions the report.
SSP Nanak Singh said action will be taken against the cop as per the findings of the report.
On April 24, the SSP suspended Gurmeet after he posted a video justifying moral policing.