Faridkot, July 12: A magisterial probe has found former Jaitu station house officer (SHO) Gurmeet Singh guilty of detaining four students, including a girl, illegally and also misbehaving with them.
Inspector Gurmeet, whose moral policing of three students on January 12 started a chain of events that led to the death of two policemen, including a DSP on January 29.
It all started on January 12, when three students of University College, Jaitu – two boys and a girl – were allegedly picked up from a bus stand by Gurmeet for “creating nuisance on road” and taken to the police station. The students had complained against “moral policing” to the university and students unions had begun protests, seeking action against the SHO.
On January 29, two weeks after the initial incident, students were again protesting at the college, when DSP Baljinder Singh Sandhu shot himself in the head, in the middle of the protest. When the DSP shot himself in the temple, the bullet went through and injured a constable standing nearby, who succumbed to his injuries.
The probe was conducted by Faridkot assistant commissioner (grievances) Jagdish Singh Johal, who submitted the report to Faridkot deputy commissioner Rajiv Prashar. The report has been forward it to senior superintendent of police Nanak Singh for action.
The probe report, a copy of which is with HT, found that the incident of January 29 in which Sandhu shot himself could have been avoided. The report says Gurmeet did not cooperate with Sandhu and also violated the Supreme Court orders that a woman should be arrested in the presence of lady constable only.
The probe found contradictions in Gurmeet’s statement as he denied all allegations of moral policing and illegal detention of students. “If Gurmeet did nothing wrong, what forced him to tender a public apology at Jaitu on February 5?” mentions the report.
Faridkot SSP Nanak Singh said action will be taken against the cop as per the findings of the report.
On April 24, the Faridkot SSP suspended Gurmeet after he posted a video justifying moral policing.
Source Hindustan