Chandigarh, Jul 4 (PTI) The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday dismissed a bunch of petitions filed against the Punjab Police probe into the 2015 Behbal Kalan firing case.

Accepting the contention of the advocate general, the court held that charges could be framed even on strong suspicion, according to a state government statement.

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"The Punjab and Haryana High Court today dismissed a bunch of petitions filed by the accused policemen in the Behbal Kalan firing case seeking quashing of the challan presented against them in the trial court," it said.

The court further directed the special investigation team headed by Inspector General of Police Naunihal Singh to conduct further investigation and submit a report before the trial court.

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Some policemen, including former director general of police Sumedh Singh Saini, and suspended inspector general of police Paramraj Singh Umranangal, had demanded quashing of the FIR and charge sheet filed by the SIT, while some cops had sought transfer of the case to the CBI.

The incidents related to the theft of a 'bir' (copy) of the Guru Granth Sahib, putting up handwritten sacrilegious posters and torn pages of the holy book found scattered at Bargari had taken place in Faridkot in 2015.

These had led to protests in Faridkot. In the police firing at protesters in October 2015, two people were killed in Behbal Kalan, while some people were injured at Kotkapura in Faridkot.

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday hailed the verdict of the high court.

In a statement, he said the verdict has paved the way for the government to seek strict punishment against the policemen accused of firing on innocent protestors at Behbal Kalan.

Lashing out at his opponents, Mann said, “Both the Akalis and the Congress have connived with each other to save the guilty in this case”.

He alleged, “While desecration of Guru Granth Sahib and firing on protestors took place during the Akali regime, the Congress actively shielded the perpetrators of the crime by ineffectively defending the investigation conducted into the incidents.”

Mann further alleged that the “Akali-Congress nexus” that was shielding the accused hitherto has been broken with the AAP government coming to power.

“The verdict was a result of the firm commitment of the AAP government to bring the guilty to book as the state government effectively defended the investigation conducted into the Behbal Kalan firing case, whereas the Congress had failed to defend the investigation into the desecration incidents,” said Mann.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)