Rahul meets President, seeks judicial probe in Faridkot firing

A delegation of Punjab Congress leaders led by party vice-president Rahul Gandhi today met President Pranab Mukherjee and submitted a memorandum urging him to initiate a judicial probe into the killing of two persons in recent protests over alleged desecration of Guru Granth Sahib.

Rejecting the CBI probe ordered by the Punjab government, the Congress leaders demanded an inquiry to be conducted by a sitting Judge of the Supreme Court.

"We request you to intervene urgently and ensure that a judicial inquiry be ordered by a sitting Judge of the Supreme Court of India and that the inquiry be completed in a time-bound manner. The demand for a judicial inquiry comes from Punjabis all over the worlds who are deeply concerned that their state's development is being threatened by the Badal government," the memorandum said.

The delegation also included Congress leaders Ambika Soni and Shakeel Ahmed, besides leaders from Punjab.

The police had allegedly opened fire on the people who were protesting against the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib in which two persons were killed at Behbal Kalan area in Faridkot district last month.

Earlier, the Punjab police had registered a case of murder against the unidentified police officials who opened fire on the protesters.

However, police claimed that they had fired in self defence when the protesting members of various Sikh organisations clashed with them.