Uproar in House over death of Behbal Kalan firing witness
ZERO HOUR SAD seeks action against Kangar, Cong MLA for ‘creating circumstances leading to his cardiac arrest’; victim’s wife threatens self-immolation if no action taken
CHANDIGARH:THE issue of the death of Behbal Kalan police firing witness and former sarpanch Surjit Singh on Friday rocked the assembly with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) demanding the dismissal of revenue minister Gurpreet Singh Kangar and Faridkot MLA Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon.
The issue also resulted in a heated exchange of words between the Congress MLAS and their Akali counterpart Bikram Singh Majithia.
The matter was first raised by SAD’S Manpreet Singh Ayali during the zero hour following which his party members staged a walkout as none from the treasury benches replied on this.
This was followed by a press conference by the late sarpanch’s wife Jasbir Kaur and son Lakhwinder Singh in the press gallery, accusing Kangar and Dhillon of creating circumstances that led to the firing witness’ death due to cardiac arrest on January 15.
Jasbir Kaur said she would immolate herself in front of Kushaldeep Dhillon’s residence if she did not get justice in the case.
Accompanied by the Akali MLAS, Kaur said her husband was harassed and intimidated at the behest of the minister and the MLA to take back his statement as a witness in the case of police firing on Sikh protesters in Behbal Kalan in in 2015. Two Sikh protestors were killed in the police action.
“My husband was being pressurised because both the Congress leaders wanted to save the police officials involved in the police firing. Officials of police and Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) were sent to our house to harass us and a firing was also done by Manjinder Singh Bitta, a close associate of Dhillon. This troubled my husband a lot and he eventually died,” she said.
She also showed photographs of Bitta with Dhillon to rebut the Congress MLA’S claims that he does not know Bitta.
Majithia said it was unfortunate that the prime witness in the police firing case was subject to mental torture. He said the Congress leaders made power department officials conduct raids at Surjit’s residence and even threatened the family through their close associates.
Bitta, who allegedly fired at Surjit’s residence for which an FIR was registered against him, was not arrested yet due to the Congress leaders’ intervention, he claimed. Later, Dhillon raised the issue in the House when bills were being tabled. He launched a scathing attack on Majithia for allegedly instigating the deceased sarpanch’s wife for political gains.
“Just one person is responsible for many problems in Punjab. It must have been a bad time when the Majithia family shifted from Uttar Pradesh to Punjab,” said Dhillon while pointing fingers at the SAD legislator.
To this, Majithia responded by saying that Dhillon himself is a burden on the earth. “I don’t know what he eats. He should tell the House why he was sheltering the police officials involved in the firing,” he said.
Kangar said he had nothing to do with Surjit’s death or a power theft case against him. Jasvir was making false allegations against him due to some vested interests. Earlier, high drama prevailed outside the main assembly hall when the former sarpanch’s wife reached the gate and started distributing pamphlets to the MLAS, appealing to the Amarinder Singh-led government to take action against Dhillon and Kangar.
When she reached the SAD office in the assembly complex, the on-duty intelligence and Punjab Police officials asked for her entry pass to which the Akalis reacted strongly, asking them to check their own entry records.
BAJWA SAYS THIS AFTER AN AKALI MLA FLAGGED CONTAMINATION OF RIVER WATERS DUE TO INDUSTRIAL WASTE IN DERA BASSI, ZIRAKPUR AND AMBALA