Journalism of Courage
All those arrested in connection with the Bhikhi clash on Sunday,and subsequently sent to Bathinda Central Jail,were released today evening. Mansa Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Hardial Singh Mann said that as a pro-active measure and goodwill gesture to ensure peace it was decided at the government level to ensure that 57 persons sent to jail in connection with the Bhikhi clash be released on bail.
Following the clash between followers of Sant Samaj preacher Baljit Singh Daduwal and the police,a case of attempt to murder and assaulting and deterring a public servant from performing duty,among other sections of Indian Penal Code,was registered against the arrested persons in question and they were produced in a court and sent to Bathinda Central Jail.
The SSP claimed that the police made an application in the court,seeking to drop section 307 (a non-bailable offence) from the FIR.
However,information with The Indian Express reveals that 45 accused by name have been discharged by the court in the case in question (FIR number 1,dated January 2,2011,under sections 307,353,332,186,120 B,436,427,148 and 149 IPC).
Sources told The Indian Express that,referring to the said FIR,an order to Bathinda Jail Superintendent from the Mansa court of Judicial Magistrate First Class Atul Kamboj noted that,In the above noted case,the accused have been discharged from custody. You are hereby directed to release above said accused if they are not required in any other case.
After the court order,we released the accused in the evening, said a jail official.
The development occurred hours after Daduwal,who was released from Ferozepur jail,where he was kept under preventive detention,addressed reporters at Gurdwara Jandalisar in Kotshamir and threatened to intensify the stir if his supporters were not released and cases against them taken back.
The Mansa SSP,however,said the police had set the ball rolling for the release of the accused in the morning itself. The SSP maintained that the accused continued to face the case with rest of the offences in the FIR.
