Ex-SSP, 3 other cops named in FIR in Behbal Kalan firing

Acting on the recommendations of the Justice Ranjit Singh (retd) Commission, Punjab Police has included the names of four police personnel in the FIR registered in 2015 in the Behbal Kalan firing incident in which two people were killed.

The names of PPS officers Charanjeet Singh (the then SSP Moga, now retired), Bikramjit Singh (then SP Det., Fazilka), Inspector Pardip Singh and SI Amarjit Singh have been added to the FIR registered on October 21, 2015, under relevant sections, including 302 and 307 of the IPC, and the Arms Act at the Bajakhana police station, in Faridkot, following directives of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, an official statement said.

The commission, in its first report submitted to the chief minister last month, had categorically named these four officers and recommended that they be named as accused in the FIR and proceeded against as per law, it added.

Since an FIR already stood registered against unidentified police personnel, the names of these four officers were added in the FIR.

In accordance with the recommendations of the commission, the roles of five other police officers, Inspector Harpal Singh, the then SHO Ladowal, and constables Shamsher Singh, Harpreet Singh, Gurpreet Singh, and Parminder Singh, will also be investigated, the statement said.

A case under relevant sections, including 307 of the IPC and the Arms Act, was registered on August 7 based on the statement of Ajit Singh, an injured in the Kotkapura firing incident, a spokesperson said.

The Punjab government had last year set up an one-man inquiry commission to probe the death of two persons in police firing during a protest against sacrilege incidents in the state.