Kotkapura police firing: Former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini gets partial relief

Faridkot, March 21

The court of the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Faridkot, Rajiv Kalra, on Tuesday dismissed the anticipatory bail pleas of former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini, suspended IGP Paramraj Singh Umranangal and former Moga SSP Charanjit Singh Sharma in the Kotkapura police firing incident of October 2015.

Former CM Parkash Singh Badal, Sukhbir Singh Badal and many senior police officials, including former DGP were indicted as accused in the October 14, 2015, firing incident by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) last month.

All these accused have been issued notice by the court of the Judicial Magistrate Ist Class (JMIC), Faridkot, for their appearance before the court on March 23.

The present case (FIR No. 129) was registered by the police on August 7, 2018, on the basis of an investigation conducted by a retired High Court judge.

However, the court of Rajiv Kalra today allowed the benefit of anticipatory bail to Sumedh Singh Saini, Paramraj Umranangal, former Faridkot SSP Sukhminder Singh and former Kotkapura SHO Gurdeep Singh in another case ( FIR No. 192 of October 14, 2015) in the Kotkapura police firing incident.

In the Kotkapura police firing incident of October 14, 2015, two separate FIRs were registered.

The first FIR was registered on the day of incident on the complaint of then Kotkapura SHO Gurdeep Singh. In this FIR, registered under Sections 307, 353, 332, 333, 323, 382, 435, 283, 120B, 148 and 149, IPC, and Section 25, Arms Act, and Sections 3 and 4, Prevention of Damage to the Public Property Act, 1984, a Sikh preacher Panthpreet Singh and 14 others were named as the main accused along with various other unknown persons. The FIR was registered for injuring cops, damaging public property and police vehicles, including a Vazra, water cannon vehicle, three government PRTC buses and two private vehicles.