SAD out to frame Khaira, says Bajwa
Monday, 27/04/2015
http://www.indiapress.org/gen/news.php/The_Tribune/
Chandigarh : The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) today alleged that the SAD-BJP government was resorting to “vendetta politics” and was targeting the Opposition’s key functionaries.
The party alleged that since the SAD-BJP coalition was “unable to bear the frontal attack” launched by the Congress against it over various issues, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son and deputy Sukhbir Badal and their “police militia” had once again embarked upon its “vendetta drive”.
Addressing the media here, PPCC chief Partap Singh Bajwa alleged the latest target of vendetta was their senior leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira, former Bholath MLA. Khaira along with party MLAs Kuljit Singh Nagra, Charanjit Singh Channi and Guriqbal Kaur accompanied Bajwa.
“The Badal regime has already registered six false FIRs against Khaira during the last few years. Of these, one was quashed by the Punjab and High Court in 2008 while three cases were cancelled by lower courts. In another case under the SC/ST Act 1989, the High Court has stayed the proceedings while a notice of motion has been issued in the remaining one case,” claimed Bajwa.
The PPCC chief alleged that not content with Khaira’s political victimisation and unable to coerce him into silence, the Badals were now conspiring to register more criminal cases against him through the recently constituted special investigation team (SIT) at Ferozepur.
The Fazilka police had recently arrested Gurdev Singh, former sarpanch of Lakhan Ke Padde who was Khaira’s supporter, in a drug-related case. The police, allegedly under political pressure, recorded a false statement of Gurdev after torturing him to implicate Khaira in the drugs case, Bajwa claimed.
The Congress leaders alleged that similarly, the SIT pressurised head constable Joga Singh, Khaira’s personal security officer, to sign blank papers during the interrogation recently, again to implicate Khaira.
Bajwa alleged the Badals had deputed seven SSP-rank officers to frame Khaira in false cases. “We have been informed by police sources of this vilification drive, to be launched shortly against Khaira through a well-planned conspiracy in the shape of criminal cases, particularly under the NDPS Act,” he said.
“Khaira has petitioned in the Supreme Court seeking shifting of corruption and disproportionate assets case against the Badal family out of Punjab. He is also a petitioner for wrongful allocation of Rs1 crore of government funds to an elite school by Sukhbir. Similarly, it was on his complaint that the Election Commission had replaced DGP Sumedh Singh Saini during the Lok Sabha elections in 2014. He also made a formal complaint to the Enforcement Directorate against Bikram Majithia related to Rs70 lakh hawala transactions,” said Bajwa.
The PPCC chief claimed that due to these complaints, the ruling SAD was looking for an opportunity to “frame” Khaira, as they had targeted the MLA Bains brothers from Ludhiana.
