:dateline:Latest updates reveal that the Inspector Pardeep Singh, who has turned approver in Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura firing cases, has accused the ex-DGP Sumedh Saini, IG Paramraj Umranangal, and SSP Charanjit Sharma of colluding for unwarranted use of force on peacefully protesting Sikhs in October-2015. Inspector Pardeep Singh was a personal assistant to the then SSP Moga Charanjit Sharma.
Notably, two Sikh youths had attained martyrdom while several others were injured in these incidents in which the police cops had opened an unprovoked firing.
�It was possible to disperse the protesters at Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan peacefully but the cops were instructed to open fire on them,� he told the Judicial Magistrate while getting his statement recorded officially.
He also revealed before the Court that the then IG Ludhiana Paramraj Umranangal had reached Kotkapura along with five SHO-level officials and two SP-rank officers, to handle the “operation”. �At the behest of DGP Sumedh Saini, IG Paramraj Umranangal told the cops to open fire on protesters after they resisted the use of water cannons and cane-charging,� he added.
Pardeep alleged that the then SSP Moga Charanjit Sharma and then Ludhiana SP Paramjit Singh Pannu also opened fire on protesters.
On the basis of Pardeep Singh’s statement, the Bajakhana police have named both Saini and Umranangal as accused in the Behbal Kalan firing case.
Meanwhile, the Punjab & Haryana High Court has ordered to reinstate the then SP Bikramjit Singh who was named as an accused in the Behbal Kalan firing case and was suspended from services.
Acting on a petition moved by suspended SP Bikramjit Singh, a High Court bench headed by Justice Anmol Rattan Singh has directed Punjab�s Home Affairs Department to reinstate SP Bikramjit Singh while asking the Special Chief Secretary to present the government�s side by October 30, 2020.
