Army Colonel assault case in Patiala: Punjab police register fresh FIR, sets up high level SIT

Chandigarh: Punjab police on Friday registered a fresh FIR based on the statement of an Army Colonel, who accused 12 police officials of thrashing him and his son over a parking dispute.

A high-level SIT has also been set up to conduct investigations in a “fair and expeditious manner.” This comes a day after the Colonel's wife met Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria, who spoke to the state DGP and told him that it was the family’s right for the FIR to be registered based on the Colonel's statement.

On Friday evening, the wife of the Army Colonel broke down into tears while addressing a press conference in Chandigarh, demanding justice for her husband and son. She alleged that they had fallen victim to an "unimaginable act of brutality" at the hands of some Punjab police officials.

"A case, FIR No. 69 dated March 21, 2025, has been registered at Police Station Civil Lines, Patiala, based on the statement of Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath, recorded on March 14, 2025, regarding an unfortunate incident of assault by police officials that occurred on the intervening night of March 13-14. The statement of Colonel Bath names the police officials who assaulted him and also details their roles in the assault," an official statement said on Friday evening.

A High-Level Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by SPS Parmar, Additional Director General of Police, Law and Order, Punjab, and including Sandeep Malik, Senior Superintendent of Police, Hoshiarpur, and Manpreet Singh, Superintendent of Police, Rural, SAS Nagar, has been constituted by the Director of the Bureau of Investigation, Punjab, to ensure a fair and expeditious investigation.

The SIT has been instructed to conduct a day-to-day investigation to gather evidence and proceed with further legal actions to ensure that the culprits are prosecuted as per the law.

A Punjab Police spokesperson stated that instructions have been issued to the DIG of Patiala Range to immediately transfer the concerned police officials out of Patiala district to ensure a fair investigation.

The spokesperson further added that all 12 concerned police officials have been placed under suspension, and departmental proceedings for major punishment have been initiated against them.

The Additional Director General of Police, Security, Punjab, has been directed to provide adequate protection to the family of Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath.

Earlier, addressing a press conference alongside her son and a relative, Colonel Bath’s wife, Jasvinder Kaur Bath, accused the 12 Punjab Police officials of thrashing her husband and son over a parking dispute. She also demanded that the case be transferred to the CBI for an impartial investigation.

Many senior ex-Army officers and other ex-servicemen were also present at the press conference to stand in solidarity with the Colonel and his family.

She also submitted a representation to the Deputy Commissioner of Patiala on Friday, recounting the ordeal her family allegedly faced at the hands of the Punjab Police.

Seeking justice for her husband and son, Bath urged the DC, "Please help restore my shattered faith in the justice system and ensure that no innocent citizen suffers what we have encountered." She told reporters that the accused cops "meted out such inhuman treatment to my husband… we don’t even deal with terrorists like this." Regarding her meeting with Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria on Thursday to seek a CBI probe into the matter, Bath said, "Governor Sahib had tears in his eyes when I was speaking to him and showing him photos of how brutally my husband had been assaulted." She added that the Governor had spoken to the State DGP when the family met him the previous day and told him that it was the family’s right for the FIR to be registered based on the Colonel’s statement.

She mentioned that she had received phone calls from several politicians, "but I did not pick up even one politician's phone because this is not a political fight. I am a Fauji's wife; my husband fights for the country. It is not my fight alone, it is everybody’s fight." Bath has demanded the immediate registration of an FIR based on her husband's complaint under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including attempt to murder, the naming of all 12 accused police officers in the FIR and the immediate transfer of the accused officers out of Patiala.

"The FIR should be registered on my husband’s complaint, under Sections 109, 118 (2), 118 (1), 115 (2), 126 (2), 308 (4), 311, 351 (2&3) read with 3 (5) of BNS, naming all 12 guilty police officers," she said, while demanding the arrest of the accused police officials.

She further alleged that the police had not named the 12 officers who had been suspended in the case because it would tarnish the force’s reputation, as they were involved in working on another case and commended the same morning.

The incident took place on the intervening night of March 13 and 14, when Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath and his son were at a roadside eatery near Government Rajindra Hospital in Patiala. The family claimed that when the two were standing outside their car and having food, some police officers in civilian clothes approached and asked the Colonel to move his vehicle so they could park theirs.

When the Colonel objected to their rude tone, one of the officers punched him, and soon all the police personnel began thrashing him and his son. The Colonel’s arm was broken, and his son suffered a long cut on his head.

The family had also rejected the probe by an executive magistrate ordered by the Punjab government on Thursday. Bath said that the FIR was registered based on the statement of the dhaba owner, not on the statement of her husband, the victim.

"For seven days, I have been moving from pillar to post," she said, frequently breaking down in tears as her voice choked with emotion. "My husband is a uniformed person. We are part of the Army family," she added. The Colonel is currently posted at Army Headquarters, New Delhi.

She displayed photos from the day of the alleged assault, showing her husband with injuries and her son bleeding from the face.

Bath further accused Patiala Senior Superintendent of Police Nanak Singh of failing to take action in the matter. SSP Nanak Singh should also be posted out of Patiala for lack of cooperation, as the family requested him multiple times to register the FIR. However, he kept giving false hopes, delaying the process of justice and causing untold harassment to the family, she alleged.

She also claimed that she was asked to compromise on the issue and not pursue the case, even when she showed the videos of the “brutal violence that had been committed and also the videos where four accused police inspectors were seeking forgiveness from me.” SSP Patiala Nanak Singh could not be reached for comment when contacted by phone.