People on social media have been pouring out their anger on Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath's case. The seriousness of the Pushpinder Singh Bath case can be understood by the fact that 12 Patiala Police officers have been suspended in Punjab. In fact, a new FIR has been filed in the case based on the statement of Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath, a serving Indian Army officer. Since Bath's case has not made major headlines, some people are confused over the details of the case. If you haven't followed the case, below is what you need to know about Pushpinder Singh Bath's case-
What happened with Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath?
As per reports, Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath, and his son, Angad Singh were allegedly assaulted by Patiala Police officers who were in civil dress for 45 minutes by baseball bats. The incident took place in the early hours of March 14, 2025. Due to the assault, the Army officer was left with a fractured arm, while his son suffered head injuries. Both underwent treatment at Rajendra Hospital in Patiala. Following the family's repeated complaints, a total of 12 police officials were suspended.
What was the dispute?
The incident took place outside a roadside eatery near Rajendra Hospital, where the officer and his son had stopped for refreshments. According to the Army Officer's family, 3 police officers in plain clothes arrived at the spot and asked the officer to move his car so they could park. When he objected to their tone, one of them punched him.
"They asked us to remove our car, and when my father objected to their language, one of the officers punched him. When I tried to step in, they attacked me as well. They beat us with sticks, rods, and baseball bats. My father and I fainted, and when we woke up, they were still beating us. We were assaulted for at least 45 minutes," the officer's son informed the media.
Angad further alleged that the Policemen became even more violent he accused them of being intoxicated. He alleged that they tried to file an FIR for two days but the Police did not give any positive response. They also demanded to bring the accused in front of them but it was also not done. "We are also getting threat calls," alleged Angad.
However, an FIR was registered on March 15 based on the statement of eatery owner Karanjot Singh. Karanjot in his FIR revealed that two persons (colonel and his son) came to his establishment on the intervening night of March 13 and 14 for food and started drinking there. Some unidentified people asked the colonel and his son to stop drinking in public which led to the altercation.
It is pertinent to mention here that HT quoted a medical report of Government Rajindra Hospital that rejected the claims that Colonel and his son consumed alcohol.
Colonel’s wife Jasvinder Singh Bath accused the Patiala police of covering up the incident by registering a 'fabricated' FIR based on the statement of the dhaba owner, instead of her husband and son’s statement.
Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath’s wife held a press conference in Chandigarh on March 21 and released a video of call recordings of Punjab Police officers apologising for assaulting her husband and son.
New Twist Emerges after video call recording of Patiala cops apologising goes viral
After the video was released Major Amardeep Singh Natt addressed the media and said, “Another side of the story. I called a meeting to mediate and asked the police inspectors to apologise regardless of whether they were right or wrong to defuse tensions. I wasn’t informed the video call was being recorded, which was a breach of trust. Politicians should stay away and let the inquiry take its course."
Amardeep Singh Natt in his written statement said, "Colonel Pushpinder Bath is a very intelligent officer and a good person known to me, and Ritu Bath — his wife is a cousin of mine. I spoke to both parties to convince them to resolve the issue as continuing the altercation would be detrimental to the morale of both forces. For this, I spoke to both parties on 14th March and 15th March.
A meeting was fixed on 16th March at my house in New Lalbagh. Inspector Ronnie Singh, Harjinder Singh, Harry Boparai, and Shaminder Singh came to my house, and I asked them to apologise whether they were right or wrong to try and resolve the matter. Ritu Bath did not come to my place, however, and instead video called me and asked me to collect all 12 people and tell them to apologise. I trusted her and called all the policemen to apologise. The policemen said that some of them were not even named or involved in the case. Insp. Shaminder Singh was not even named by Ritu Bath. However, I still ask them all to apologise, no matter what.
However, when they did so, she continued to shout and therefore the phone call was terminated. I did not know that the video call was being recorded and it was a breach of my trust as I was not informed of this recording. I had just called both parties to try and resolve the matter. I appeal that politicians and others should stay out of this, and an enquiry committee has been ordered, and that should be allowed to do its work without interference. I stand with armed forces."
What did the Patiala Police say?
A new FIR was lodged on March 21, 2025 in Police Station Civil Lines, Patiala on the statement of Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath. A High Level Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by S.P.S. Parmar, IPS, Additional Director General of Police, Law & Order, Punjab, and, including Sandeep Malik, IPS, Senior Superintendent of Police, Hoshiarpur and Manpreet Singh, PPS, Superintendent of Police, Rural, SAS Nagar has been constituted by the Director, Bureau of Investigation, Punjab for conducting investigations in a fair and expeditious manner.
The SIT has been directed to conduct the investigation on day-to-day basis for collection of evidence and further legal proceedings, to ensure that the culprits are proceeded against as per law.
A Punjab Police spokesperson stated that instructions have been issued to DIG Patiala Range to immediately transfer the concerned police officials out of District Patiala so that the investigation can be conducted in a fair manner.
The Spokesperson further added that all the 12 concerned police officials have been placed under suspension and Departmental Proceedings for major punishment have been initiated against them.
Despite a new FIR, Pushpinder Bath's wife has sat on a Dharna against Patiala SSP Nanak Singh.