Set up fresh SIT headed by DGP, says HC

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Friday directed the Punjab government to constitute a fresh special investigation team (SIT) headed by director general of police (DGP, law and order) to probe the Maur Mandi blasts case.

The DGP has been given two weeks to choose his team and a fresh status report sought within three months.

The twin blasts took place on January 31, 2018, four days ahead of the assembly elections in Punjab, killing seven persons.

The earlier SIT was headed by Ranbir Singh Khatra, a deputy inspector general-rank officer.

The investigation so far has remained inconclusive.

The SIT has been submitting sealed cover reports to the high court on the status of probe.

During resumed hearing on Friday, the high court bench of justice Rajiv Sharma and justice Arun Palli expressed dissatisfaction with the pace of investigation by Khatra-led SIT.

The court was hearing a petition by Gurjeet Singh Patran, who has demanded that the probe be handed over to the National Investigating Agency (NIA) or CBI. The petitioner has alleged that the probe got slowed down after the names of some Dera Sacha Sauda followers cropped up in the case.

As per the SIT, three persons — Gurtej Singh, Amrik Singh and Avtar Singh — were named as accused in February 2018, but they are on the run.

The petitioner has stated that the vehicle used in the blasts was assembled in a workshop at the Dera Sacha Sauda at Sirsa and two of those identified as accused were close associates of dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim, who is undergoing a jail term in two rape cases.

The petitioner has also questioned the role of SIT as it failed to interrogate Ram Rahim in the case. The petitioner claims the blast was a part of a deep-rooted conspiracy to get sympathy votes in the assembly elections.