Chandigarh, June 26, 2013: The Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today urged his Uttarakhand counterpart Vijay Bahuguna to take the strictest possible legal action against all those involved in the attack on a senior IAS officer Kahan Singh Pannu, who was deputed to lead a team at Gobind Ghat to carry out relief and rescue operations in the wake of flash floods in Uttarakhand
In a letter to Bahuguna, the Punjab Chief Minister sought his personal intervention for initiating prompt police and legal action against the guilty involved in this unsavory incident to keep the morale of officers ever high.
On the directions of the Chief Minister, the Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Siani today constituted a Special Investigating Team (SIT) to probe into the entire incident of attack on Pannu, who was deputed to lead a team at Gobind Ghat to carry out relief and rescue operations in the wake of flash floods in Uttarakhand.
Disclosing this here today, a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that the 4-member SIT led by IG Security Sanjeev Kalra would comprise DIG Gautam Cheema, who had already been camping at Gobind Ghat to look into this unfortunate incident since Sunday on the directions of DGP, DIG Cyber Crimes Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh and SSP Mohali Gurpreet Singh Bhullar.
After the submission of the report by the SIT, the ADGP (Law & Order) has been mandated by the Chief Minister to take up the entire issue on the basis of the findings of the SIT with the Uttarakhand for the registration of FIR against all the accused involved in this episode under the relevant sections of law.
The spokesperson further said that as per the preliminary reports two persons have been identified so far. The preliminary findings revealed that KS Pannu was on his assigned task from Joshimath to Gobind Ghat along with other members of his team including MD Punjab State Cooperative Banks Kamaljit Singh Sangha, Amarjit Singh, Assistant Project Officer of DGSE office, and Punjab Police Inspector Kulbhushan in civil clothes. Besides these officials, Pannu was assisted by an Assistant Manager Gurdwara Sahib Joshimath, a Punjab Police constable and an Army jawan in uniform who was deputed by the Commanding Officer of the unit where Pannu was staying at Joshimath. On the fateful day on June 24, 2013, Pannu was on visit at Gobind Ghat to oversee the evacuation operations of pilgrims, where a mob of 30-40 persons attacked him suddenly. In the meantime, the Punjab Police Inspector Kulbhushan rushed to the nearby ITBP patrol party for seeking their help.
Meanwhile, a case of Cyber Crime was being registered under the provisions of IT Act and section 295-A of IPC for hurting the religious sentiments against the culprits at the Police Station Mohali.