Punjab Police’s Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the 2015 Behbal Kalan police firing incident, has issued fresh summons to former Union minister and senior BJP leader Vijay Kumar Sampla, asking him to appear before it on June 28.
The summons came one day after Sampla appeared before the special court.
As per the notice issued under Section 179(1) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), Sampla has been directed to appear at 11 am at the Punjab Police Officers Institute (PPOI), Sector 32-C, Chandigarh, for examination and recording of his statement.
The notice states that the Special Investigation Team believes that Sampla is aware of the facts and circumstances of the cases and warns that non-compliance may result in action being taken under the relevant provisions of the law.
Speaking to the media here on Wednesday evening, Sampla said he was ready to cooperate with the investigation but insisted that he must first be provided with the documents on which he was being interrogated.
“I am willing to cooperate with the special court, but the documents should be submitted first so that I can examine them and give my statement. Otherwise, my time and the time of the special investigation team will be wasted,” he said.
Sampla stated that during his appearance before the special court on June 23, he was informed that his interrogation was related to a memorandum submitted to the Governor of Punjab in 2018.
He said that he requested a copy of the memorandum bearing his signature to understand the basis of the investigation before giving his statement.
“The memorandum was submitted in 2018, and it has been almost eight-nine years. At that time, the BJP was in alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal, and any memorandum could have been jointly submitted. I need to know which document is being referred to and what is my role in it,” he said.
Sampla noted that he also submitted a written response to the summons, reiterating his request for documents.
He also said that he served as Punjab BJP president from April 2016 to April 2018 and was not leading any delegation when the memorandum was submitted.
“There were many people in the delegation, including leaders from the BJP and SAD. I don’t understand why I was called alone,” he said.
The BJP leader alleged that the action was politically motivated and amounted to harassment, claiming that he had no direct or indirect involvement in the incidents under investigation.
He also claimed that the SIT action was being used to divert attention from other issues, referring to a widely circulated video linked to the controversy involving Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
The incidents related to the theft of ‘Pir’ (copy) of Guru Ganth Sahib from Jawahar Singh Wala Gurdwara, placing handwritten posters in Bargari and Jawahar Singh Wala Gurdwara, and torn pages of the Holy Bible found scattered in Bargari took place in Bargari in Faridkot in 2015. These incidents led to anti-sacrilege protests in Faridkot.
During police firing on anti-sacrilege protesters in October 2015, two people, Gurjit Singh and Krishan Bhagwan Singh, were killed in Behbal Kalan, while others were injured in Kookaburra in Faridkot.
