New Delhi: Over a week after a colonel-rank Indian Army officer and his son were allegedly assaulted by a dozen officers of the Punjab Police, drawing widespread condemnation from Army veterans, the Patiala Police have registered a fresh FIR naming five officers under sections including attempt to murder.
The Punjab Police have also constituted a high-level special investigation team led by an Additional Director General-rank officer to carry out day-to-day investigation and transferred 12 officers accused of the assault by Army officer Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath.
Notably, Patiala Police’s first FIR was filed against unknown suspects under Section 194 (2) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (relating to affray) on the statement of the owner of the dhaba outside which the incident took place.
The fresh FIR, a copy of which has been seen by ThePrint, mentions Punjab Police officers Roni Singh, Harjinder Singh Dhillow, Happy Boparai, Rajvir Singh and Surjeet Singh. These were named by Colonel Bath as having encircled him and his son and thrashed them up.
According to the Colonel, he was outside an eatery when the assault happened on the intervening night of 13 and 14 March. He alleged that he and his son were standing outside their car and having food, when some police officials in civil dress came and rudely asked him to remove his vehicle from the spot.
The assault that followed left the Colonel with a fractured arm, and his son with an extended cut on his head, he has said in his complaint.
“I took out my service card from my car, showed it to the people, and told them that I work in the Army and am posted as a Colonel. One of the persons took away my service card and one person also took away my mobile phone and two persons started beating me. My boy Angad Singh Bath also fell on the ground and started saying that ‘return my father’s service ID card and beat me, but leave my father’,” the complaint, seen by ThePrint, says.
The registration of the FIR comes in the backdrop of Colonel Bath’s wife, Jasvinder Kaur Bath, addressing a press conference Friday and demanding a fresh FIR against the 12 police officers involved.
At the press conference in Chandigarh, Jasvinder levelled serious allegations of inaction against the police and said that Patiala SSP Nanak Singh had asked the family to compromise in the matter.
She said Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria had dialled state police chief Gaurav Yadav, saying her demand of an FIR against the accused named by her husband was justified. She also sought the transfer of all accused officers out of Patiala district and the transfer of the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation for an impartial probe.
As reports of the alleged assault and lack of action on the demands raised by the Colonel’s wife swirled, Army veterans lodged a protest in Mohali Thursday and demanded exemplary action against the accused policemen.
Earlier, in a press conference Monday, the Patiala SSP had expressed regret over the incident and announced the initiation of a departmental inquiry against the 12 accused officers.
However, the Colonel’s family persisted with its demand for a fresh FIR naming the accused.
ThePrint has reached out to SSP Nanak Singh and Patiala Range DIG Mandeep Singh Sidhu with queries on the subject and a response is awaited.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Also Read: By opposing farmers’ stir, AAP is playing to the crowd in urban Punjab. But it’s a slippery slope
🤣#🤣🤣🤣#🤣🤣🤣🤣19047