Car dealer arrested for helping cops fabricate evidence
FARIDKOT: The special investigation team (SIT) probing the 2015 police firing on people protesting the Bargari sacrilege in Faridkot on Saturday arrested a car dealer for allegedly aiding accused cops in making fabricated bullet marks on the escort vehicle of Charanjit Singh Sharma, former Moga senior superintendent of police, and an accused in the Behbal Kalan case, to construct a fake self-defence theory.
This is the second arrest by the SIT in Behbal Kalan firing case in a week. On June 16, a Faridkotbased lawyer, Sohali Singh Brar, was arrested by SIT for his alleged role in fabricating evidence in the Behbal Kalan police firing. He was sent in four-day police custody (till Sunday).
Three accused has been arrested so far in the case, including former Moga SSP, who is on interim bail on health grounds.
Inspector general of police Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, who is a senior member of the SIT, said Pankaj Bansal, owner of Pankaj Motors, Moga, then having automobile workshop in Faridkot, has been arrested for aiding accused on fabricating false selfdefence theory. “We will produce him in the court along with Brar and seek police custody of both,” he added.
Two youths had died in police firing on October 14, 2015, while protesting against the desecration of Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari on October 12. Police had also opened fire on protesters at Kotkapura, leaving many injured, the same day.
In its probe, the SIT found that Charanjit Sharma conspired with three other police officers — Fazilka superintendent of police Bikramjit Singh, inspector Pardip Singh and sub-inspector Amarjit Singh Kular — to cover up facts related to the Behbal Kalan firing.
The SIT has claimed that to fabricate evidence against the protesters, Charanjit’s escort Maruti Gypsy was taken to the advocate’s house, where Bikramjit and a car dealer had fired on it to make bullet marks. The same day, Kular, who was the Bajakhana SHO, recorded the statements of Sharma, Bikramjit and Pardip, etc, and they claimed police fired in self-defence.