Faridkot police firing: Amarinder Singh hands over compensation cheques to victims' families

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday handed over cheques worth Rs 2.90 crore as additional financial assistance to the families of those killed in the police firing in Faridkot district.

On October 12, 2015, torn pages of the Guru Granth Sahib were found in Faridkot’s Bargari village. In the protests that followed, two people died in police firing in Behbal Kalan village on October 14.

The chief minister has raised the compensation amount to Rs 1 crore for the kin of the deceased from the Rs 75 lakh recommended by the Justice (retd) Ranjit Singh Commission, along with a job.

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The chief minister assured them of all possible assistance by the state government.

He, however, said no amount of monetary help could ever compensate the loss of a human life.

Earlier, the government had sanctioned an additional assistance of Rs 90 lakh each for the families of Gurjit Singh and Krishan Bhagwan, residents of village Sarawan and Khurd respectively, who were killed in the police firing, an official spokesperson said.

The then SAD-BJP government had given Rs 10 lakh each to the families of the deceased.

The Amarinder Singh-led Congress government had paid a compensation of Rs 60 lakh to Ajit Singh, a resident of Bathinda district’s Nathpur village, who was critically injured in the firing.

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It had also announced reimbursement of all the expenses incurred on his treatment, besides providing a lifelong medical attendant at a cost of Rs 15,000 per month.

An assistance of Rs 50 lakh was also provided to another injured Beant Singh of Behbal Khurd village.

The government has already reimbursed a sum of Rs 2.60 lakh for his medical treatment, the spokesperson said.