Former IG of Punjab Police Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, who was a part of the SIT probing the 2015 Kotkapura police firing incident in Punjab, on Monday joined the Aam Aadmi Party, with the Delhi Chief Minister and social gathering convener calling him “my officer brother. (My officer) hailed as. Officer Brother)”.
Party leaders stated Kejriwal visited Amritsar on Monday with the principle goal of inducting the previous IPS officer. NAVJEEEVAN GOPAL explains in regards to the profession, background and evolution of Kunwar Vijay Pratap coming into the political area.
Who is Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh and in what capability was he related to circumstances associated to sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib and later police firing on protesters?
A former Inspector General of Punjab Police, Singh is a 1998-batch IPS officer who sought untimely retirement from service quickly after the Punjab and Haryana High Court on April 9 quashed the Special Investigation Team (SIT)-led investigation report. choice was chosen. In the Kotkapura firing case by him.
The face of the five-member SIT – which additionally had an ADGP-level officer – when it was shaped in 2018 by the Congress authorities led by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, Singh was later formally made its head. The SIT was constituted after the Justice Ranjit Singh (Retd) Commission of Inquiry submitted its report within the sacrilege and police firing circumstances.
It was obligatory to analyze the incidents of firing at Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan in Faridkot district on October 14, 2015 on anti-profanity protesters who had staged a sit-in in opposition to the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib in Bargari village of the identical district two days earlier.
After taking voluntary retirement, Singh took no phrases, attacking the Punjab authorities’s authorized group for not presenting a robust case within the HC, one thing he blamed for quashing the SIT report, when a court docket in Faridkot I used to be on trial. , the place 4 cost sheets have been introduced within the names of seven accused together with former Director General of Police of Punjab Sumedh Singh Saini.
Singh had additionally questioned the position of former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and others, whereas giving particulars of the decision element information earlier than the Kotkapura incident. Ever since he took untimely retirement, it was being speculated that Singh, who was in any other case because of retire on September 2029, would make a political transfer forward of the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections.
What did the Punjab and Haryana High Court see whereas quashing the SIT probe within the Kotkapura firing case?
While acquitting the then CM Parkash Singh Badal of conspiracy expenses, the court docket got here down closely on the SIT and termed the investigation as “politically dramatic” whereas quashing the investigation and chargesheet filed within the trial court docket.
The court docket additionally stated that Singh was “not free from guilt”. He quoted an interview given to a TV channel throughout the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as saying that it “shows only one thing that the present investigation has been cast as a political horse by respondent No. Kept only for whipping. An opportune time, whenever elections are near or when it suits them.”
During the probe, Singh had questioned senior Badal, SAD president Sukhbir Badal, Saini and actor Akshay Kumar amongst others. Dismissing the decision element information of Badal talked about within the chargesheet, the court docket order held that the then CM was “to the position and to his responsibility as a CM, alive even in odd hours”. Were”.
Following the HC order, the Punjab authorities constituted two new SITs, one headed by ADGP LK Yadav to probe the Kotkapura case and one other headed by IG Naunihal Singh to probe the Behbal Kalan case, which was headed by Singh. led SIT earlier than continuing on voluntary foundation. retirement. Two protesters have been killed in Behbal Kalan police firing.
While the investigation within the Kotkapura case was quashed following a petition by former SHO of Kotkapura Gurdeep Singh, who was each the complainant and the investigating officer in an FIR registered in reference to the case in 2015, and made an accused in one other FIR lodged in August 2018. was. The similar incident, untimely retirement by Singh necessitated the formation of one other SIT.
Another SIT led by Border Range IG Surinder Pal Singh Parmar is probing three incidents together with theft and sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib. Not questioning the integrity of the brand new SIT, Singh insisted that justice may very well be delivered solely on the premise of the investigation performed by him, which he termed as “international standards”.
The former IPS officer is being broadly mentioned on social media for his work model and his investigation on the emotional challenge of sacrilege of the holy scripture, thought of by the Sikhs as a dwelling guru.
What is Kunwar Vijay’s background and what different high-profile circumstances did he examine?
According to a batchmate of Singh, he comes from “a very humble background from Gopalganj in Bihar”. The official stated Singh belonged to the household of a “marginal farmer”. The officer stated that earlier than becoming a member of the IPS, Singh was serving as a sub-inspector and a block growth panchayat officer, amongst different posts.
“He is a very simple, honest and upright officer,” stated the officer who skilled with Singh within the IPS. After becoming a member of the AAP, Singh, who is thought to carry the circumstances of sacrilege and police firing to a logical conclusion. The Sikhs, who’ve been invoking the teachings of the gurus, made it some extent to say their journey from Patna to Amritsar – a Takht in every home. The highest non permanent seats of Sikhism out of the full 5 Takhts).
In a protracted profession the place he held varied positions at varied locations, Singh’s roots remained in Amritsar. He has been within the limelight for investigating a number of excessive profile circumstances. He first got here into limelight in 2002 for exposing the Amritsar kidney rip-off. He was the Superintendent of Police of Amritsar City at the moment.
In October 2018, nonetheless, the High Court acquitted 5 docs who have been sentenced to 5 years rigorous imprisonment by a decrease court docket in November 2013. Singh had additionally investigated the 2003 Amritsar intercourse scandal case. Many native politicians and cable community operators. have been registered within the case. The case was later handed over to the CBI on the instructions of the High Court.
In 2013, a particular CBI court docket had acquitted all of the accused within the case of denying the assertion of the complainant girl. During his tenure, he has run-ins with varied politicians. Then BJP MLA Anil Joshi went on a starvation strike in 2009 to demand the switch of Singh as Amritsar SSP. However, a number of NGOs got here ahead in his assist and moved the HC difficult Singh’s switch order.
His tenure as Jalandhar Police Commissioner and later as Ludhiana Police Commissioner was additionally marked by sections of native politicians who expressed displeasure over his model of functioning, and consequently his switch from these locations. He can be managing a web site about himself, which he’ll replace along with his newest public images, blogs and articles.
Among the achievements talked about on their web site have been the rescue of 53 little one laborers who have been being exploited by goldsmiths on July 24, 2002, and the detection of a gang coping with unlawful admissions in medical faculties by leaking PMT (Pre Medical Test) papers. Had to place
He can be the recipient of President’s Police Medal for Meritorious Services (Independence Day 2014) and IVF Award 2006 by India Vision Foundation for Prison Reform (a belief established by Dr. Kiran Bedi), amongst different awards. In 2017, his position in controlling gangsters and crime was acknowledged by the Punjab DGP, who awarded him a quotation for “ensuring gangster-free assembly elections 2017”. Singh is the writer of a minimum of six books, has executed MBA and PhD, is a legislation graduate and has MA in Sanskrit from Patna University with specialization in Philosophy.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
