Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday rejected the Opposition’s demand for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged suicide of a state warehousing official, asserting that the Punjab Police is fully capable of investigating the case.
The CM’s categorical rejection of the opposition parties’ demand came a day after Union home minister Amit Shah told some state MPs in Parliament that he was ready to transfer the probe to the CBI. Shah expressed his willingness to transfer the investigation to the central probe agency after a Congress MP raised the matter in the Lok Sabha.
The case, which has triggered a political row, involves allegations of harassment against former cabinet minister and Aam Aadmi Party’s Patti MLA Laljit Bhullar. Bhullar resigned from the state cabinet on Saturday after warehousing corporation district manager Gagandeep Singh Randhawa died by suicide. The AAP leader was arrested on Monday. He was presented in an Amritsar court that sent him to five-day police remand on Tuesday. Randhawa’s autopsy was conducted at Government Medical College, Amritsar, after the family’s nod. The body was later handed over to the kin for the last rites which took place at the Durgiana Temple crematorium.
Responding to a media query on the opposition parties’ demand, Mann said the minister had resigned, had been arrested, and that the matter would be investigated properly.
“A chief secretary-level committee has been tasked with inquiring into the matter. The law is the same for everyone, including mantri and santri. Action will be taken strictly in accordance with the law. We neither support nor shield anyone,” he told reporters at a press conference here, dismissing calls for the central government’s intervention.
The chief minister also questioned the opposition parties’ track record in handling similar incidents.
Referring to the suicide of senior Haryana IPS officer Y Puran Kumar, Mann asked, “While the officer died by suicide, did anyone give the case to the CBI?” He also cited other instances, linking them to Congress leader Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh, and Shah. “Who resigned? When did the CBI investigate?” he asked.
Taking a jibe at the opposition leaders’ joint protest, Mann said he was ‘happy’ that they all came together. He claimed that Raja Warring, Partap Singh Bajwa, Sunil Jakhar, and Bikram Singh Majithia were sitting in the same car. “They have united to oppose Bhagwant Mann. Law and order is under control, only they are out of control. They think this is the only issue,” he added.
In Amritsar, supporters of Bhullar gathered outside the court where he was presented before a judge. Bhullar was arrested from Mandi Gobindgarh in Fatehgarh Sahib district and was later handed over to a team of Amritsar Police Commissionerate that brought him to the city on Monday night. Deputy commissioner of police (investigation) RPS Sandhu said, “We have got five-day remand of the accused”.
According to the people in know of the matter, the prosecution cited that the investigation officers are yet to recover the DVR of the CCTV where victim Randhawa was allegedly thrashed and recover the pistol which was allegedly used to hit Randhawa’s head as claimed by complainant and Randhawa’s wife Upinder Kaur. Upon hearing arguments of prosecution and defence, the court sent the accused to five-day police remand.
Randhawa, 45, had consumed a poisonous substance at his Ranjit Avenue residence in Amritsar in the early hours of Saturday. In a 12-second video, recorded on his mobile, Randhawa, the district manager of the warehousing corporation in Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts, claimed he had taken the extreme step out of fear of Bhullar.
Bhullar had stepped down from his post on March 21. On March 22, a first information report (FIR) was registered against Bhullar, his father, Sukhdev Singh Bhullar, and PA Dilbag Singh on complaint of Upinder Kaur under the Sections 109 (abetment of suicide), 351(3) (criminal intimidation by treating to cause death or grievous hurt) and 3(5) (offence by multiple individuals) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Sukhdev and Dilbag are yet to be arrested.
Portfolio reassigned: Cheema gets transport, Ravjot prisons dept
Chandigarh Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday reallocated the transport and jails portfolios, previously held by Laljit Singh Bhullar, to cabinet ministers Harpal Singh Cheema and Ravjot Singh, respectively.
Cheema, who currently holds the finance, excise and taxation, planning, and programme implementation portfolios, has also been allocated the transport department. Ravjot, who handles NRI affairs and parliamentary affairs, has been assigned the jails department. The reshuffle follows Bhullar’s resignation from the state cabinet on Saturday after a district manager of the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation died by suicide. The official had ended his life after accusing Bhullar of harassment and coercion.
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