Who was behind the 2015 Bargari beadbi and the Behbal Kalan firing?

The claim: No one has been proved behind either event, and the first official answer was different. On 20 October 2015 Punjab Police, with Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal beside them, announced the arrest of two brothers and a foreign conspiracy, with handlers in Australia and Dubai; Badal said "We have unearthed the conspiracy" (Tribune). In mid-2019 the CBI told a Mohali court that the ten Dera followers Punjab had arrested were innocent (Tribune). On the firing, Badal said in 2018 that the Ranjit Singh Commission's report places him out of the country and never names him "in connection with the firing incident" (Tribune), and in March 2023 that he and his father were "being framed" by the AAP government (Tribune). His counsel called the SIT's claims of closeness to the Dera head "without any basis" and of interference in the Beadbi probe "a bundle of lies" (Tribune, March 2024).

The sourced facts, in order:

• June to October 2015. A bir was stolen at Burj Jawahar Singh Wala on 1 June. On 24 September the Takht heads pardoned the Dera chief. On 12 October more than 110 pages were found near the Bargari gurdwara; on 14 October police fired at Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan, killing Gurjit Singh of Sarawan and Krishan Bhagwan Singh of Niamiwala at Behbal Kalan (Tribune). The pardon was withdrawn on 16 October (one Tribune report says 17).
• 2 November 2015. A magistrate freed the brothers as police "did not have sufficient evidence", though police said that did not mean they were innocent (Tribune).
• 2018 to 2019. The Ranjit Singh Commission report, tabled on 27 August 2018, found the Behbal Kalan firing came "without any warning and without taking permission from civil authorities" and the force was "unwarranted" (DailyO). A supplementary report said the Chief Minister's office was "apparently kept in the loop" on Kotkapura (Tribune); the SAD called it "motivated" (DailyO). After the CBI's closure report, Punjab's Special DGP asked it to check two Pakistan-based numbers (Tribune).
• 2021 to 2023. On 9 April 2021 the High Court quashed the first SIT's Kotkapura probe and ordered a new team (Tribune). The new SIT's report, made public on 2 July 2022, named Dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh as key conspirator, with the non-release of his film as motive (Tribune); he denied involvement, telling the SIT he had no role in the dera's decision-making. The Supreme Court moved that trial to Chandigarh on 28 February 2023 (LiveLaw).
• The firing cases. The SIT arrested ex-SSP Charanjit Sharma and IGP Paramraj Singh Umranangal in early 2019 and on 28 September 2020 named ex-DGP Sumedh Singh Saini as accused, citing an approver's account that he and Umranangal told Sharma to end the dharna (Tribune). Its Kotkapura chargesheet of 24 February 2023 names Sukhbir Badal and Saini as masterminds and says Parkash Singh Badal facilitated; he died on 25 April 2023 (Tribune). The High Court moved the Behbal Kalan murder trial to Chandigarh on 31 May 2024 on Sharma's plea citing safety (Tribune); on 1 August 2026 police filed sealed status reports there, and the Tribune did not say whether charges are framed.

The Panthic answer: Sikh bodies hold the then Akali government answerable. The Sarbat Khalsa at Chabba on 10 November 2015 gave its mandate against Takht heads said to act under the Badal government's influence (Tribune). The Bargari Insaaf Morcha demanded arrests of those behind the Beadbi and action against the police who fired at Behbal Kalan; Baljit Singh Daduwal added the arrest of the Badals (Tribune). On 2 December 2024 the Singh Sahiban under Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh said the Akali leadership had lost its moral right to lead the politics of the Panth (ThePrint); Sukhbir Badal admitted the charges put to him, among them the pardon, the failure to catch those behind the Beadbi, and the Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura firings (PTI via Outlook). On 8 December 2025 they declared ex-Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh tankhaiya over the pardon (Tribune). Sukhraj Singh Niamiwala of the Behbal Kalan Insaf Morcha said in May 2025 that "no final chargesheet has been filed as promised" (Tribune).