Amritsar, Punjab: The
family members of Jaspal Singh, an engineering student who was killed in police
firing on March 29 following which curfew was imposed in the city, have sought
time till April 25 to record their statements in front of the inquiry
commission probing the incident.
Jalandhar Divisional Commissioner Anurag Verma, who is
looking after the probe, said the victim’s father, Gurcharanjit Singh, wanted
to record his statement in the presence of a senior Supreme Court lawyer,
Navkiran Singh. The inquiry report has to be submitted to the state government
within a month.
Senior officials, including Mohinder Singh Kainth and
Varinder Pal Singh, former Gurdaspur Deputy Commissioner and Senior
Superintendent of Police, respectively, have already recorded their statements.
Varinder Pal claimed the circumstances flared to such an
extent that police was left with no option but to fire in the air to control
the surging mob of Sikh activists. He, however, said the bullet that hit Jaspal
Singh was not fired by any police official.
The statements of suspended DSP Manpreet Singh, the then
SHO of Gurdaspur (City) police station Shama Singh, ASI Ajvinder Singh and Naib
Tehsildar JP Salwan, who was the acting magistrate when the firing took place,
were also recorded.
The deceased’s father wondered as to why the police did
not use tear gas shells prior to actual firing even if in the air. “Police
could have given a warning to the mob to disperse if it was feared that the
situation may spin out of control. But, they started firing without any
warning,” Gurcharanjit said.
