Former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal questioned at his official residence here by the SIT probing the 2015 Kotkapura police firing incident in Faridkot. The Punjab Police Special Investigation Team reached Badal’s Sector 4 MLA flat and the meet was for nearly two-and-a-half hours.

The Punjab government had formed the new SIT led by Additional Director General of Police L K Yadav to probe the Kotkapura police firing incident. Senior SAD leaders including Maheshinder Singh Grewal, Prem Singh Chandumajra, Daljit Singh Cheema, besides SGPC chief Jagir Kaur were present at Badal’s residence. The SIT had rescheduled the questioning after the 93-year-old Badal had expressed his inability to appear before. Badal at a rest house in Mohali on June 16 earlier said that 'he is not keeping good health. ..Still not in good health. Let us tell you in detail, Prakash Badal was the CM when incidents of desecration of a religious text and police firing at people protesting against it took place in Faridkot in 2015. The new SIT is investigating the two FIRs registered on October 14, 2015 and August 7, 2018 in connection with the Kotkapura incident. The high court had on April 9 this year quashed a report by an earlier Punjab Police SIT. The court had then directed the state government to set up a new SIT without Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh. Singh took voluntary retirement after the court order and had joined the Aam Aadmi Party in Amritsar. High court quashed the previous SIT’s report. Singh in reply charged that the fresh SIT head L K Yadav was promoted overnight as ADGP to head the new SIT. The government’s agenda is not to deliver justice, but politics. He said that attempts were also being made to “intermingle” Kotkapura firing case and sacrilege cases.

A separate probe is underway in the case. The previous SIT had questioned Badal in 2018. At that time, Badal had said that the SIT was politically motivated to defame him. The new SIT has already questioned former DGP Sumedh Saini and some other police officers.

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