Resigned after home secy refused to share Bargari sacrilege SIT report, says Kunwar Vijay
The former IPS officer and Aam Aadmi Party MLA Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh who has been airing differences with the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government in Punjab over its handling of the 2015 sacrilege and police firing cases for some time now, joined Behbal Insaaf Morcha in Faridkot on Thursday.
Aam Aadmi Party MLA Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, who resigned as chairman of the committee on government assurances of the Vidhan Sabha on January 25, said he had quit after the home secretary “refused” to give the final report of the special investigation team’s (SIT) on Bargari sacrilege cases.
The former IPS officer, who has been airing differences with the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government in Punjab over its handling of the 2015 sacrilege and police firing cases for some time now, joined Behbal Insaaf Morcha in Faridkot on Thursday. The son of one of the victims killed in the 2015 firing incident, Sukhraj Singh, is sitting on protest against the delay in the investigation for the past 14 months.
Two Sikh protesters — Gurjeet Singh of Sarawan village and Krishan Bhagwan Singh of Niamiwala village in Faridkot district — were killed on October 14, 2015, when they were protesting against a sacrilege incident. Sukhraj is the son of Krishan Bhagwan.
He said that in July last year, a report on Bargari sacrilege cases was handed over to a few Sikh community leaders, who are private persons, claiming that justice was delivered, but the same cannot be shared with the Vidhan Sabha panel.
“I summoned the home secretary for this but was told that they cannot share the report. They were scared of questions that I may ask questions after the report was submitted to Vidhan Sabha. When they tried arm-twisting the institution, I resigned from the post,” he said.
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on July 2 last year had handed over the ADGP (then IGP) SPS Parmar-led SIT’s final investigation report, probing three cases linked to the Bargari sacrilege incidents, to Sikh community leaders. The SIT had submitted a 467-page report to the director of the Bureau of Investigation (BoI), in April 2022. The SIT found no political involvement and concluded that the crime was committed following a conspiracy by dera followers on the directions of Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim for revenge.
“Kotkapura SIT cannot deliver justice”
The AAP MLA claimed that the Punjab police special investigation team (SIT) formed by the former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh to probe Kotkapura firing case “cannot deliver justice.”
In April 2021, the Punjab and Haryana high court had quashed all reports filed by the previous SIT, headed by then-IGP Kunwar Vijay in the Kotkapura firing case, where police had opened fire at people protesting over the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib in Bargari village of Faridkot district. Acting on HC orders, the state government constituted a new three-member SIT, headed by the additional director general of police (ADGP) LK Yadav. The new SIT is yet to file a chargesheet even after 21 months.
“The chargesheet in the Kotkapura firing case was quashed but Behbal Kalan’s chargesheet, which is also my investigation, was approved by HC. Even three years after submitting the challan, why the case is not proceeding in court? Even almost two years after the quashing of the chargesheet in the Kotkapura firing case, the new investigation is not completed. Despite no stay on Behbal Kalan firing case, the trial is not proceeding in the Faridkot sessions court. Someone is trying to save high profile accused,” he added.
