Badals to appear before SIT

AMRITSAR/CHANDIGARH: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday said he and his father Parkash Singh Badal will appear before the special investigation team that is probing the 2015 police firing on the antisacrilege protesters at Behbal Kalan village in Faridkot district.

The SIT had issued separate summons to Sukhbir, former chief minister Badal and actor Akshay Kumar on Sunday.

The three have to report to SIT at the Amritsar circuit house.

“We are ready to cooperate with the SIT,” Sukhbir told reporters in Amritsar.

The Akali Dal, particularly the Badals, are feeling the pressure after “being indicted” by the Justice Ranjit Singh (retd) Commission as the ruling Congress is using the sacrilege issue to put Akalis on the mat.

The detractors within the party are also using the issue to voice dissent against the top leadership blaming them for taking decisions in haste that led to the current crisis in the party.

The SAD had debunked the Ranjit panel report, terming it as the “Congress-sponsored and biased”. Both Badal and Sukhbir had refused to appear before the Ranjit panel.

“We have high hopes from the SIT. The Ranjit panel report has also been questioned by the court. How can we recognise this commission which has been constituted to tarnish the image of the SAD,” Sukhbir said.

The Badals decided to join the investigation amid their party’s consistent demand for probe into the sacrilege incidents by a sitting Supreme Court judge.

The decision on appearance of the two Badals before the SIT was taken by the party’s core committee, said SAD leader Parminder Singh Dhindsa.

“We have faith in the SIT that it will bring the truth to light by conducting unbiased and fair investigations,” he added.

In August, when Ranjit panel report was discussed in the assembly, the SAD had decided to stay away from the proceedings.

The SIT is probing the 2015 police firing incidents at Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan in Faridkot after a series of sacrilege incidents which had taken place in the state in 2015.

In police firing at Behbal Kalan, two persons had been killed.