Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal did not appear before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the 2015 Behbal Kalan firing incident on Friday.
The SIT had summoned Badal to appear at the Punjab Police Officers Institute (PPOI) in Sector 32, instead, SAD leaders Parambans Singh Romana and advocate Arshdeep Singh Kaler met SIT officials at around 11 am.
Romana said the Akali leaders had demanded that the SIT provide a written questionnaire and he said the party wanted to cooperate with the investigation but questioned the intentions behind the questioning.
According to Romana, both the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) governments had followed a pattern of reopening investigations into the incident with the objective of implicating Sukhbir Badal and he also alleged that the sacrilege issue had been used politically for the past 10 years and said justice had not yet been delivered.
The 2015 incidents began with the theft of a copy of the Guru Granth Sahib from a gurdwara at Burj Jawahar Singh Wala in Faridkot and this was followed by handwritten sacrilegious posters being put up at Bargari and Burj Jawahar Singh Wala, and torn pages of the holy book being found scattered at Bargari.
The incidents triggered large protests in Faridkot in October 2015 and during police firing at Behbal Kalan, two protesters, Gurjeet Singh and Krishan Bhagwan Singh, were killed.
Several others were injured in police action at Kotkapura.
The Akali Dal was in power in Punjab when the incidents took place. Parkash Singh Badal was Chief Minister, while Sukhbir Singh Badal was Deputy Chief Minister and held the Home portfolio.
The SIT, headed by IG Harjit Singh, intensified its investigation in 2024.
Former Akal Takht Sahib Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh recorded his statement before the team in June, later in July, the SIT visited the sites at Burj Jawahar Singh Wala and Behbal Kalan. BJP leader and former Union Minister Vijay Sampla appeared before the SIT on September 3.
Sukhbir Badal was also injured in a kirpan attack on August 13 while leaving a gurdwara in Maharashtra's Nanded district, meanwhile, AAP leader Ranbir Singh Dhillon addressed a press conference and accused Sukhbir Badal of deliberately avoiding the SIT summons.
Dhillon also alleged that the BJP and SAD were reaching an understanding and claimed that the BJP had advised Badal not to appear before the SIT, assuring him of political protection. Dhillon also demanded that the SIT provide Sukhbir Badal with a written questionnaire.