Punjab police firing case: SIT arrests former Moga SSP

Two men protesting against the desecration of Guru Granth Sahib were killed in the firing at Behbal Kalan ordered by Sharma, then SSP, Moga, on October 14, 2015. IG Singh said, “We have enough proof against him. We always had evidence to arrest him but a related petition was pending in the high court and it was disposed of recently, clearing our way.”

He said, “Even after the petition was disposed of, we had given Sharma a chance to appear before the SIT. We summoned him on January 29, but he avoided receiving the summons.”

“We came to know that he was arranging for tickets to fly to Canada, so we decided to arrest him. He tried to escape when the police cordoned off his house Sunday morning but policemen nabbed him,” said Singh.

He said, “Sharma’s medical examination has been conducted. We will interrogate him and further action will be taken. He will be produced in court soon.” About Sharma’s role in the firing incident, he said, “We will produce the final report about his role in court and then it will be made public.”

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday dismissed all petitions by Punjab Police officers, including Sharma, against the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report, and directed the SIT to expeditiously probe the matter involving sacrilege incidents of 2015 and killings of two civilians at Behbal Kalan.The officers had challenged the procedure adopted by the state government in setting up the Court of Inquiry and its adjudicatory role. The Ranjit Singh panel report had recommended that names of Sharma and three other policemen be included in the Behbal Kalan incident FIR.

On August 11, 2018, on recommendations of the commission, Punjab Police added names of Sharma (now retired), Bikramjit Singh (now assistant commandant, 4th Commando Battalion, Mohali), Inspector Pardip Singh and S-I Amarjit Singh, to the FIR lodged under Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) and the Arms Act.