Cong demands withdrawal of ‘false’ cases against its leaders
Saturday, 29/08/2015
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PATTI (TARN TARAN): Led by Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) general secretary Harminder Singh Gill, Congress workers staged a dharna outside the office of the Patti deputy superintendent of police (DSP) on Friday, demanding withdrawal of “fabricated” criminal cases registered against party activists at the behest of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).
Congress leader Harminder Singh Gill addressing party workers during a dharna in Tarn Taran district on Friday.
The protesters raised slogans against police, particular against Patti DSP Davinder Singh. They referred to him as “DSP of the SAD”, and claimed that “he took orders from Akali leaders” and scarcely bothered about the general public.
Addressing party workers, Gill alleged that fabricated criminal cases were registered against his party colleagues Dalbir Singh, his son Amardeep Singh Manni and seven to eight other people — all from Jaura Singhwala village under Patti police station of the district. While one of the cases was registered at the Patti police station in February, others were registered at the Harike police station on August 1.
“Both these cases are false and were registered on the instructions of a senior Akali leader to force Dalbir Singh and his supporters to enter into a compromise with their rival party in the village against whom an attempt to murder case was registered in November last year,” he claimed, while addressing party activists.
Giving a background of the cases, Gill claimed that Amardeep and his father were allegedly attacked by Gurpreet Singh Gopi and his supporters in November last because Amardeep and his father had refused to join the SAD.
“So far, police have not arrested Gopi or any of his supporters, who were named in the FIR. We demand their immediate arrest and withdrawal of the cases against Amardeep and others,” said the PPCC leader.
A number of other Congress leaders also addressed the dharna and each one of them targeted the local DSP. They demanded his immediate transfer and a thorough inquiry into all cases that he had got registered against the Congress activists after coming to Patti. They claimed that the DSP had developed a habit of only attending phone calls of Akali leaders and did not bother about others.
DHARNA LIFTED AFTER SSP’S ASSURANCE
The dharna that lasted for about three hours was finally lifted following an assurance by Tarn Taran (city) DSP Sukhvinder Singh on behalf of senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manmohan Sharma.
The police officer assured Gill and his colleagues that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) would be constituted to probe the Jaura Singhwala incident, in which an Akali leader was the main accused. He said a probe would also be ordered into other cases that the Patti DSP had got registered against Congress workers.
Gill, however, set a one-month deadline for the withdrawal of cases against his party colleagues from Jaura Singhwala village. If no justice was given, the Congress activists would gherao the DSP’s office here again, he warned.
