SIT NAMES SAINI, UMRANANGAL AS ACCUSED IN BEHBAL KALAN FIRING CASE

MOGA/MOHALI: On a day former Punjab director general of police Sumedh Singh Saini appeared before the SIT in Mohali in the Multani disappearance case, the special probe team looking into the 2015 police firing cases on Monday named Saini and IG Paramraj Singh Umranangal as accused in the Behbal Kalan incident.

A senior member of the SIT said, “During probe, it was found that Saini and Umranangal were involved in the Behbal Kalan firing conspiracy.”

FARIDKOT : The special investigation team (SIT) probing the 2015 police firing incidents has named former director general of police (DGP) Sumedh Singh Saini and suspended inspector general of police (IGP) Paramraj Singh Umranangal as accused in the first information report (FIR) in the Behbal Kalan case registered at Bajakhana police station.

A senior member of the SIT said, “During investigation, it was found that Saini and Umranangal were involved in the Behbal Kalan firing conspiracy, so they have been nominated as accused in the FIR.”

Though they have been accused of criminal conspiracy, they won’t be arrested immediately as the Punjab and Haryana high court has asked the SIT to give them a seven-day notice before initiating action against them in the police firing cases.

The SIT is likely to issue notices to Saini and Umaranangal soon.

The development comes weeks after a policeman, the prime accused in the firing incident, turned approver. On September 15, a Faridkot court allowed the SIT’s application seeking pardon to inspector Pardeep Singh, the then reader to former Moga senior superintendent of police (SSP) Charanjit

Singh Sharma.

On September 10, SIT member IGP Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh had told the Faridkot court that then DGP Saini and suspended IGP Umranangal were the main conspirators in the Behbal Kalan firing incident.

However, hearing the plea of another accused, a former Kotkapura station house officer Gurdeep Singh Pandher, the high court last week directed the SIT not to submit any supplementary chargesheet in the Behbal Kalan firing case till the next hearing on October 3.

Pandher has alleged in the petition that Kunwar Vijay Pratap is biased against him and he has been threatened on his instance.

The high court sought a reply from the state government that if it would be willing to substitute IG Kunwar Vijay Pratap with another officer to be part of the SIT constituted to investigate the Behbal Kalan incident.

Gurjeet Singh of Sarawan village and Krishan Bhagwan Singh of Niamiwala village had died in the police firing on October 14, 2015, while protesting against the desecration of Guru Granth Sahib. Besides, many people were seriously injured in the incident.

Umranangal, who was the then Ludhiana police commissioner, is also an accused in the Kotkapura police firing incident of October 14, 2015.