Cong reiterates demand for CBI inquiry, booking Sukhbir

Monday, 04/05/2015

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MOGA: Claiming that Punjab Police were a puppet in the hands of the ruling Badal family, the Congress has again asked for handing over the Moga bus incident case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Youth Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring with state Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa (left) and the victim’s grandmother at Civil Hospital in Moga on Sunday.

“Chief minister Paraksh Singh Badal and his deputy, Sukhbir Singh Badal, must perform their duty or resign,” Punjab Congress prsident Partap Singh Bajwa said. He, along with Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, the president of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC), former chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, former minister Darshan Singh Brar and other leaders participated in threehour dharna at the civil hospital, Moga on Sunday.

He added that the Congress would continue its agitation till a case under Section 304-A (causing death by negligence) was registered against deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal, the co-owner of the bus from which the 13-year-old and her mother were allegedly molested and thrown out.

“Even the withdrawal of Orbit buses on the premise of starting a training programme vindicates our stand that rogue elements had been hired and were functioning under political patronage,” he claimed.

He further said that the permits of these private buses must be verified as several of these buses were plying against permit. Bajwa also announced that an all-party meet would be held on May 5 in Moga.

‘COMPROMISE DOESN’T CHANGE ANYTHING’
Bajwa claimed that even as the family of the victim had compromised with the authorities for the cremation of their daughter, Arshdeep Kaur, the Congress would support the Joint Action Committee’s Moga bandh call on May 4. “Our agitation will continue. We will protest against the government at the main crossing in Moga at the Moga-Ludhiana national highway,” he claimed.

WHY IS BJP SILENT, ASKS YOUTH CONG CHIEF
Questioning the silence of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the issue, Indian Youth Congress (IYC) president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring alleged that the party was hands-in-glove with the Badal family in perpetuating mis-governance and claimed that there was a hidden agenda behind the party’s silence.

“The BJP’s silence indicates it is part of the SAD’s misgovenance,” he claimed. He also threatened that protests would intensify. “If Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal is not booked in the case, the Indian Youth Congress will lay siege to the chief minister’s residence in Chandigarh and gherao all offices of Orbit Transport,” Warring said. CRIME AGAINST WOMEN HAS ZOOMED UNDER BADALS: BHATTAL

Former Punjab chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal said that matters had come to a head after the Badals kept on ignoring complaints against their private bus staff.

“Rape cases in Amritsar, Ludhiana and some other parts of the state reported in recent times have exposed the height of lawlessness in the state,” she further stated.