Chandigarh, February 10
The State of Punjab today gave its nod for a “unified command of police” for the Tricity of Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali for investigating cases of serious nature, murder and kidnapping included.
The State of Punjab today gave its nod for a “unified command of police” for the Tricity of Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali for investigating cases of serious nature, murder and kidnapping included.
In an affidavit placed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Punjab Deputy Secretary, Department of Home Affairs and Justice, Om Parkash Bhatia, said the force could comprise police officers from Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.
He also suggested that the command or the committee could be of Punjab, Haryana and UT SSPs. The senior-most SSP could be heading it.
The affidavit placed before the Bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Mahesh Grover further suggested that the command could meet once a month on a fixed date. The meeting could be advanced if required by the circumstances.
The affidavit came on a petition filed in public interest for CBI probe into the kidnapping and murder of five-year-old boy Khushpreet. The petition has been filed by the World Human Rights Protection Council through chairperson-cum-advocate Ranjan Lakhanpal.
The petitioner is also demanding a strict action against the errant Chandigarh police officers, allegedly responsible for Khushpreet’s death.
Khushpreet was kidnapped on December 21, 2010, from Burail. He was later found brutally murdered on January 5 in Mohali, hardly at two kilometers from his house. After protests, the Chandigarh administration had ordered magisterial probe. His family has already returned the compensation offered by the UT administration.
Seeking CBI probe in the case, Lakhanpal submitted the police had failed miserably to solve the case. apparently dissatisfied with the probe report, Lakhanpal sought directions to register a criminal case under Section 304-A of IPC on the allegations of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against the errant police officers.
The petitioner also sought directions to the UT administration to come up with a special cell to deal with similar situations and employ specially trained cops.
