Tough task ahead for new SIT
HC ON APRIL 9 QUASHED ALL REPORTS FILED BY PREVIOUS SIT PROBING THE 2015 KOTKAPURA POLICE FIRING
FARIDKOT: The newly constituted three-member special investigation team (SIT) of the Punjab Police to probe the 2015 Kotkapura firing case has an uphill task ahead to examine what its predecessor termed a “conspiracy”.
The high court on April 9 had quashed all the reports filed by the previous SIT headed by inspector general of police (now retired) Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh into the case.
Acting on the HC orders, the state government constituted the new three-member SIT headed by additional director general of police (vigilance bureau) LK Yadav. It has been directed to complete the investigation within six months.
An official, who is part of the government’s legal team, said that the SIT needs to find something beyond call records to prove the conspiracy theory. “Kunwar Vijay’s team had mainly relied upon the records of telephone calls to prove this was a conspiracy hatched by the cops and politicians, but there is not one substantiate evidence to prove the nature of conversation on record,” the official said.
The previous SIT named former SAD MLA Mantar Singh Brar as an accused claiming it was probing the contents of 157 calls he exchanged with the chief minister’s office (CMO), then DGP office, some ministers and local administration officials on the night before the firing took place.
However, the HC had stated that the mere fact of a CM talking to the district administration or DGP in a situation where the law and order is disturbed, in itself, would not be sufficient to infer his conspiracy to kill or injure anybody through firing by the police upon protestors.
The new SIT will investigate the role of the protesters as the HC has observed that police firing was not “unprovoked”. Sources said that the probe team will also investigate the role of Sikh preachers who were declared “innocent” by Kunwar Vijay’s SIT. They had been booked for allegedly instigating the protesters to attack the police team.
The high court said the magistrate present on the spot had assessed the situation and granted permission to use tear gas in the first instance, lathi charge thereafter, and the gun firing at the third stage.
“Before that, as per records, the protestors were recorded on video to have chased and attacked the police, even with swords. Therefore, the conclusion that the protestors were sitting peacefully when the police started firing and also, the conclusion that firing by the police was unprovoked is against the record even on this count,” the HC had said. A total of 77 medico-legal reports of policemen who were injured in the firing incident are on the record.