Howrah court remanded Balwinder Singh to 8-day police custody, Sirsa meets Governor to demand case against cops

A Howrah court on Sunday remanded Balwinder Singh, who was arrested with a firearm during the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha's "Nabanno Cholo" protest, to eight days of police custody.

A major controversy erupted after Singh's turban was allegedly removed by the West Bengal Police during the protest on Thursday.

A delegation led by Manjinder Singh Sirsa, President of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee met Governor Jagdeep Dhankar today. He alleged that Kolkata Police insulted him by pulling his turban and urged the Governor to direct the state government to take action against police officials involved in the incident.

"We met the Governor and the incident is shocking. Sardar Balwinder Singh, who took voluntary retirement from the military fought against Pakistan during his service. Kolkata Police insulted him by pulling his turban. He was charged in sections that are invoked against terrorists. He registered his gun at Kolkata airport," Sirsa told reporters here after meeting Governor Dhankar.

"We requested the Governor to direct the Chief Minister and DGP to register a case against those police officials and suspend them by ordering an enquiry. Those police officials should be dismissed. The Governor said that he will give directions to take action on his complaint," he said.

Denying the charge, the police, meanwhile, contended that the man was rounded off because he was carrying firearms in the march, for which permission was not given.

"The concerned person was carrying firearms in yesterday's (Thursday) protest. The Pagri (turban) had fallen off automatically in the scuffle that ensued, without any attempt to do so by our officer (visible in the video attached). It is never our intention to hurt the sentiments of any community," West Bengal Police had tweeted on a day after the incident.

The police said that the officer had specifically asked him to put his pagri back before the arrest.

The Home Department has accused "a political party" of "blowing the incident out of proportion" and "giving communal colour" to it.

( With inputs from ANI )