Faridkot, March 20: District and Sessions Judge Harpal Singh on Wednesday dismissed the anticipatory bail of former Akali MLA Mantar Singh Brar.
Brar, former Akali MLA from Kotkapura, is one of the suspects in the unprovoked police firing on protesters at Kotkapura in October 2015.
The police firing had followed a protest against the sacrilege incidents at Bargari.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Punjab Police is investigating the police firing incident at Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan in which two men were killed and many others injured.
Earlier, the SIT had arrested IGP Paramraj Singh Umranangal and former SSP Charanjit Singh Sharma in the unprovoked firing on the protesters.
The SIT opposed the anticipatory bail to Brar.
In over two hours of arguments between the counsel for Mantar and prosecution counsel for the SIT, counsel for the SIT said the provision of anticipatory bail had to be exercised in exceptional circumstances and the SIT must be given free rein to arrive at the truth of the conspiracy.
Claiming that there was a reasonable apprehension that Brar would tamper with the evidence, the SIT claimed that though Brar had twice appeared before the SIT, he had concealed the truth.
He said Brar had evaded most of the SIT queries, so his custodial interrogation was required.
However, alleging a political conspiracy to entangle Brar in the case, his counsel produced newspapers clippings in which Congress leaders had started dubbing Brar as one of the accused even before the SIT gave any such hint.
