Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi pays condolence to family of man who was killed during protests in Punjab. (ANI Photo)
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today met the families of two men who were killed in police firing last month during a protest against the desecration of holy book last month.
The two men were killed in police firing at Behbal Kalan near Kotkapura when the Sikhs were protesting at Argari village in Faridkot on October 14.
Rahul was accompanied by Punjab Congress President Pratap Singh Bajwa, former chief minister and deputy leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Amarinder Singh, Puinjab Congress legislature party leader Sunil Jakhar, Indian Youth Congress President Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and former chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal.
After meeting the families, he began his 8 km long padyatra.
During padyatra he is scheduled to visit Behbal Kalan village where the firing took place. He will later attend a prayer meeting at a gurudwara in Bargari village where the incident occurred.
Mr Gandhi will also meet the farmers in Bathinda district during his two-day visit.
Last month, police drew flak for the firing on the protesters from the opposition Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Later, the government had set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incident and booked "unknown" police officials under charges of murder and Arms Act.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have already met the families of the two men last month.
Hardliners and Sikhs owing allegiance to different organisations have sought punishment for the cops involved in the firing incident.
Sikh preachers and hardliners had mulled the idea of setting up a memorial for the two Sikhs killed in police firing at Bargari, the site of incident.
Bargari was the epicentre of the Sikhs' protests against the incidents of desecration of the holy book in the state.
Police have so far arrested over seven people, including two brothers Rupinder Singh and Jaswinder Singh, for their alleged involvement in the incident.
Majority of those arrested were either Sikh priests or employees working in gurudwaras. However, all the arrested people were later released due to lack of evidence against them.
Mr Gandhi had earlier visited Punjab in April. He had then visited three grain markets of the state, including Asia's largest grain market at Khanna.