Chandigarh, June 1: Taking up a petition filed by a Patiala resident, a division bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday sought a status report from the state government on the investigations into a blast at Maur Mandi in Bathinda in January last year.
In his petition against the state, Bathinda SSP, Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim and other respondents, Gurjeet Singh Patran had sought directions to hand over the investigation in the case to the NIA or the CBI for an impartial and quick probe.
The Bench comprising Justice AK Mittal and Justice Tejinder Singh Dhindsa has fixed July 4 as the next date of hearing. The petitioner claimed that the investigation in the case had come to a standstill after news surfaced that the vehicle used in the blast was prepared in a workshop of Dera Sacha Sauda in Sirsa and two close associates of Ram Rahim were involved. The case is currently being probed by a SIT of the Punjab Police.
The petitioner added that the SIT failed to interrogate Ram Rahim and a senior politician in connection with the case. The petition added that the bomb blast was a part of a deep-rooted conspiracy to get sympathy votes in the Assembly elections and to defame another political party.
