Cong polling agents attacked,10 booked
Monday, 05/05/2014
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140505/punjab.htm#10
Rampura Phul:A group of youths allegedly led by Akali leaders attacked two Congress polling agents and commission agents at the Rampura Phul vegetable market here this morning. One of the Akali leaders had hosted lunch for Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini last year, said sources.
There was tension in the town after brothers Rinku and Raju were targeted by the SAD workers. While Rinku is being treated at the Rampura Civil Hospital, Raju has been admitted to the Government Hospital at Faridkot.
Local Congress leaders alleged that the houses of certain Congress workers in Kangar village were pelted with stones last night.
One of the attackers was identified as Parveen Kansal alias Rocky. The latter had hosted lunch for the DGP when, accompanied by Education Minister Sikander Singh Maluka, he had come here to inaugurate a police station.
Rocky and his aide Happy Bansal and eight unidentified persons have been booked for attempt to murder.
Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) vice-president Gurpreet Kangar, who is head of the Malwa region, led a protest at the local hospital and later at the Barnala-Bathinda barricade.
Kangar claimed that the Congress polling agents had stood up to Akali leaders and objected to bogus voting during polling even as the police remained a mute spectator. He alleged that Akali leaders had threatened him and other workers inside the police station when they went to lodge a complaint.
Gurpreet Maluka, Chairman, Bathinda Zila Parishad, who is Maluka's son, defended the Akali workers. He told the police that Rocky and his aide were not in the town when the alleged incident took place. Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, SSP, denied the police had been partisan.
Happy Bansal said he and the SHO (City) had been at a local temple since 6 am regarding a theft.
Rocky, he said, was away to Chandigarh. Claiming that Rinku and Raju often got into brawls with their business rivals, he accused the Congress of needlessly giving a political twist to the incident.
