The Punjab-Haryana has granted the investigation into the assault of Army Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath and his son, Rajinder, to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The incident, which occurred on March 21, 2025, at Harbhans Dhaba near Rajindra Hospital in Patiala, has now become a high-profile case following public outrage and intervention by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The CBI registered the case and began its probe after receiving orders from the High Court. The agency has taken over the investigation from Patiala Police and filed a fresh FIR in the matter.
In March, Colonel Bath alleged that 12 Punjab Police personnel assaulted him and his son during a parking dispute outside a dhaba in Patiala. According to the Colonel, four inspectors and their armed subordinates attacked them without provocation, seized his ID card and mobile phone, and threatened him with a “fake encounter”. The entire sequence of events, which was caught on CCTV, left Colonel Bath with a broken arm and his son with a head injury.
Following the incident, the Colonel’s family approached Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and met with Union Ministers and the Punjab Police DGP. However, the family claims that justice has still not been served.
The Punjab Police initially failed to act promptly. It was only after eight days, when the incident gained traction on social media and news outlets, that an FIR was lodged. In response to growing public pressure, twelve policemen were suspended. However, both the victim’s family and the public demanded a fair and impartial investigation into the matter.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court had also rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Punjab Police Inspector Ronnie Singh Salh, one of the key accused in the assault case.
Of the four police inspectors involved, Salh was the only one who applied for bail in the High Court, which was rejected on Friday. The other three inspectors – Harjinder Dhillon, Harry Boparai and Shaminder Singh – are also implicated in both the assault case and a separate encounter case in Patiala. They are currently on the run and could be arrested under the FIR, having been fugitives for the past two months.
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