Chandigarh, August 27: The report of Justice (retd) Ranjit Singh Commission set up to probe the sacrilege incidents and the killing of two Sikh protesters in police firing at Behbal Kalan in Kotkapura on October 14, 2015, has indicted former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal. Chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh formed the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission.

The report was presented in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha today. According to the report, the former chief minister was informed before taking the police action against the Sikh protesters. The protesters were protesting against the sacrilege. However, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has rejected the report. The SAD MLAs even walked out of the assembly on the issue.

The report claimed that Badal was in touch with the then Director General of Police (DGP) Sumedh Singh Saini and the district administration and could not be considered ignorant of the action. The former chief minister was indicted on the basis of a written statement submitted by the DGP. Saini was removed from his post after the firing incident.

The report also claimed that it had sufficient evidence that the Principal Secretary of Badal, Gagandeep Brar made him speak to the DGP and MLA Mantar Singh Brar and the former chief minister was aware of the situation developing at Kotkapura and also about the proposed action by the police.

The report of the commission stated that the DGP told the MLA that he would get the dharna site cleared within 10 minutes. The commission accused the former CM of not cooperating with it. However, Badal in his letter to the speaker of the assembly has sought leave from the session on account of his poor health.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 27, 2018 04:59 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).