Chandigarh, The wife of Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath on Tuesday said she has a feeling that the Punjab government was playing a game with them in the “assault” case even after the chief minister’s assurance.
Bath accused 12 Punjab Police personnel of assaulting him and his son over a parking dispute on the intervening night of March 13-14 in Patiala. Recently, he filed a plea in the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking transfer of the probe to the CBI or another independent agency.
Bath’s family has demanded a CBI inquiry into the matter, arrest of the accused policemen and the transfer of the Patiala SSP.
On Monday, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had assured them that justice would be delivered in the case of “assault” on the Army officer. This was stated by Colonel Bath’s wife Jasvinder Kaur after she met Mann here.
Kaur also said the chief minister will be holding a meeting with officials in this regard.
The chief minister had recently given the family time to meet him on Monday in connection with the incident.
“When CM Mann gave an assurance yesterday, I felt hopeful. Mann sahab placed his hand on my head and said ‘daughter, you will get justice’. During the meeting, he had said one of his OSDs will reach out to us with an update yesterday,” she said.
Kaur quoted the chief minister as saying she was not only the country’s daughter but also like his daughter.
She further said, “The way the police did not initially register an FIR and did not do what they ought to have done in the case, they kind of played a game with us. Now again, I have this feeling that the government is also playing a game with us,” she alleged.
“Mann sahab, you had said we will get justice. Today, the country’s daughters and Punjab’s daughters are waiting for this justice. No one contacted from your office after my meeting with you yesterday,” she said.
Earlier, after her meeting with Mann, Kaur had told reporters, “I thank the chief minister for promising to take appropriate action in the matter… I salute him. He said justice will be delivered in the case. He said he will be holding meeting with officials”.
“He kept his hand on my head and said I am Punjab’s daughter. He listened to us patiently,” she said.
“I have been given assurance that justice will be delivered,” Kaur said.
Last week, the Army called for a fair and honest investigation in a transparent and time-bound manner to punish the guilty in the Colonel Bath assault incident.
“We reiterate the need for a fair and honest investigation in a transparent and a very time-bound manner to punish the guilty and restore the faith in the system,” Lt Gen Mohit Wadhwa, Chief of Staff, Army Western Command headquarters Chandimandir, had last week said at a joint media briefing here with Punjab’s Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav.
DGP Yadav said at the joint briefing that the Punjab Police reiterated its highest respect to the Indian Army and was committed to maintaining and upholding the dignity of the Army officers.
The DGP said any person who had assaulted the serving Army officer would be dealt with severely and in accordance with the law. The investigations would be completed swiftly so that the culprits were brought to book soon, the DGP said, as he talked about various steps taken by the Punjab Police after the incident, which included setting up of a high-level Special Investigation Team headed by a senior Punjab Police officer.
A S Rai, head of the Special Investigation Team set up to probe the case, had on Monday appealed to the people of Patiala to share with the team any evidence if they had in the form of video recordings or any other information pertaining to the assault incident.
The Punjab Police had lodged a fresh FIR based on Colonel Bath’s statement a week after the alleged incident.
Bath has alleged that the assailants four inspector-rank officers of the Punjab Police and their armed subordinates attacked him and his son without provocation, snatched his ID card and mobile phone, and threatened him with a “fake encounter”, all in public view and under CCTV camera coverage. The colonel suffered a broken arm, while his son had a cut on his head in the incident.
All 12 police personnel have been placed under suspension and departmental proceedings have been initiated against them, the Punjab Police earlier said.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.