Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal did not appear before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the 2015 Behbal Kalan firing incident on Friday.Badal had been summoned to appear before the SIT at the Punjab Police Officers Institute (PPOI) in Sector 32.However, Parambans Singh Romana and advocate Arshdeep Singh Kaler met SIT officials at around 11 am.In a written submission, Badal cited medical reasons for failing to appear before the SIT, saying he had to visit a doctor for a medical check-up.Badal has sought time until September 30, citing a busy schedule that includes public rallies and outreach programmes across the state.“Further, we have also demanded a written questionnaire from the SIT. We doubt their intentions. We wish to cooperate; however, their intention appears to be running a political narrative,” said Parambans Singh Bunty Romana.Romana said both the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had followed a pattern of opening investigations into the incident with the aim of implicating Sukhbir Singh Badal.He said that for the past 10 years, “only politics has been played” over the sacrilege issue and no justice had been delivered yet.He alleged that whenever the government was in trouble, it dragged up the incident to divert attention.The incidents related to the theft of a copy of the Guru Granth Sahib from the Burj Jawahar Singh Wala gurdwara, the putting up of handwritten sacrilegious posters in Bargari and Burj Jawahar Singh Wala, and torn pages of the holy book being scattered at Bargari occurred in Faridkot in 2015.These incidents led to massive anti-sacrilege protests in Faridkot in October 2015. In the police firing on protesters at Behbal Kalan, two persons — Gurjeet Singh and Krishan Bhagwan Singh — were killed, while several others were injured at Kotkapura in Faridkot.The Akali Dal was in power in Punjab at the time, with the late Parkash Singh Badal as Chief Minister and his son Sukhbir Singh Badal as Deputy Chief Minister holding the Home portfolio.Badal was injured in a kirpan attack on August 13 while exiting the Gurdwara Sahib in Maharashtra’s Nanded district.The SIT, headed by IG Harjit Singh, intensified its investigation in 2024. In June, former Akal Takht Sahib Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh recorded his statement before the SIT. In July, the team visited the sites at Burj Jawahar Singh Wala and Behbal Kalan.BJP leader and former Union Minister Vijay Sampla also appeared before the SIT on September 3.Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party leader Ranbir Singh Dhillon addressed a press conference and claimed that Sukhbir Badal was deliberately avoiding appearing before the SIT.Dhillon alleged that an understanding was being reached between the BJP and the Akali Dal and claimed that the BJP had advised Badal not to appear, assuring him of political protection. He also demanded that the SIT provide a written questionnaire.