A Phone Call, Then Punjab Police Officer's U-Turn On Lynching Case
NDTV
During a press meet, Kapurthala police chief first said an FIR had been filed into the killing. Then came a phone call for which he left the room. When he returned, he said something entirely different.
Hours after a man was beaten to death in the presence of policemen in Punjab's Kapurthala, police officers ruled out a sacrilege link and even backtracked on their own statement after a phone call in the middle of a press conference.
During his 45-minute press meet yesterday, Kapurthala police chief GS Dhillon first said an FIR had been filed into the killing. "An FIR has been registered on the statement of our SHO (Station House Officer) on how people didn't allow cops to perform their duty, thrashed the accused who later died," the Kapurthala Inspector General said.
Then came a phone call for which he left the room. When he returned, Mr Dhillon said something entirely different. "The second FIR on killing has not been registered... we will ascertain the identity of the accused and then register the case," he said.
On Sunday, a mob jumped over the wall of a Gurdwara in Kapurthala to get to the man, who had been accused of trying to remove the Nishan Sahib (Sikh flag). In front of the cops, the man was beaten to death and his body was taken away in a police gypsy.
