Patiala, July 25: Four Punjab Police inspectors, already suspended for allegedly assaulting retired Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath and his son in March, have now been transferred out of the Patiala Range on orders from Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Kuldeep Singh Chahal—just a week after the Punjab and Haryana High Court handed over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Inspectors Harjinder Singh, Shaminder Singh, Harry Boparai, and Ronnie Singh—accused of attacking Colonel Bath and his 21-year-old son Angad over a parking dispute outside a roadside eatery near Government Rajindra Hospital on March 13—have been relieved of their postings in the Patiala Range.
According to officials familiar with the matter, Harjinder and Shaminder, earlier posted at Sangrur Police Lines, have now been transferred to the Bathinda Range. Boparai and Ronnie Singh, who were serving at Malerkotla and Barnala Police Lines respectively, have been shifted to the Ludhiana Range.
The transfers follow persistent demands by Colonel Bath’s wife, Jasvinder Kaur, who had urged authorities to move the suspended inspectors out of Patiala to facilitate a fair investigation.
The case had initially been investigated by Punjab Police before the high court, acting on a petition filed by Colonel Bath, transferred it to the Chandigarh Police on April 3. A special investigation team (SIT) led by Chandigarh Police SP Manjeet Sheoran was constituted on April 11. However, on July 16, the high court, citing serious concerns, handed the probe to the CBI.
“The court cannot be a mute spectator to the conduct of the investigating agency in conducting the probe in a tainted manner,” Justice Rajesh Bhardwaj said while ordering the CBI probe into the two connected FIRs registered in Patiala.
The court added that despite transferring the case outside the state for neutrality, “no change in the situation” had occurred. “From the overwhelming circumstances of the case, the court is convinced that the investigating agency is not only trying to create loopholes… but trying to make craters in the investigation,” the bench observed.
The CBI is now expected to take over the probe entirely, with the objective of conducting a thorough and impartial investigation into the incident that has sparked widespread public and institutional concern.
