CHANDIGARH: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday registered two separate cases (First Information Reports) into the alleged assault on Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath by Punjab Police personnel.The CBI has re-registered both the FIRs filed by the Civil Lines Police Station, Patiala, as its own separate cases on the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court earlier this month. The premier investigating agency has tasked its special crime unit to carry out investigations in this case. Both the FIRs, one from Colonel Bath and the other from the dhaba owner, were registered under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which also include charges under attempted murder.In the second FIR taken over by the CBI, the owner of the eatery alleged that the occupants of Colonel Bath’s car had parked their vehicle in the middle of the road where they were drinking when a “minor scuffle” took place between them and some passersby and the individuals in an unknown car.On July 16, the Punjab and Haryana High Court transferred the investigation into the alleged assault on Colonel Bath over a parking dispute outside a dhaba in Patiala by Punjab Police personnel to the CBI. Previously, the court had entrusted the investigation to the Chandigarh Police.Justice Rajesh Bhardwaj had expressed dissatisfaction with the investigation conducted by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Chandigarh Police. He had asserted that the conduct of the police amounted to “setting the wrong example” and protecting the accused.The court was earlier informed that five accused, four of whom are police inspectors, are absconding, and no non-bailable warrants have been issued against them.
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