Congress leader opposing land mafia assaulted in Gurdaspur - Had contested Assembly poll on party ticket; Capt, Bajwa flay attack
Wednesday, 03/06/2015
http://www.indiapress.org/gen/news.php/The_Tribune/
Gurdaspur : Former president of the Gurdaspur Municipal Committee and senior Congress leader Raman Bahl, who has been protesting against the alleged land grab activities by a senior SAD leader of the region, was roughed up by some people at Dak Khana Chowk here this afternoon.
Sources said the accused were known to be close to a Gurdaspur-based ruling party leader. Immediately after the incident, Bahl’s supporters held a protest. Congress supporters demanded that a case of attempt to murder and kidnapping be registered against the miscreants.
Gurpreet Singh Toor, Senior Superintendent of Police, said they would nab the accused soon. “I am under no political pressure whatsoever from any politician. The police are performing their duty in a transparent manner,” he said.
Raman Bahl, who is former Education Minister Kushal Bahl’s son, was roughed up by some people while he was going to take part in the inquiry initiated by Deputy Commissioner Abhinav Trikha into the alleged land grabbing activities of some people close to a SAD leader.
Bahl, who has been admitted to the local Civil Hospital, sustained injuries on both his legs, besides getting his right shoulder fractured. “I was coming back from Gopal Nagar where the land mafia had grabbed plots of some poor people. On my way back, some people pounced on me and started beating me in full public view. Had it not been for some passersby, I would have been killed by those people,” Bahl said.
“I have identified two of the miscreants. The SSP should now act and arrest them. Both of them belong to Ghot Khurd village and are close to a ruling party politician,” he added.
Former Chief Minister and Amritsar MP Capt Amarinder Singh has urged the SSP to conduct an impartial probe into the incident. Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Gurdapur District Congress president, said that if the police failed to arrest the culprits by tomorrow, the District Congress would give a ‘Gurdaspur bandh’ call.
Punjab Pradesh Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa, too, has condemned the attack and alleged the incident made it evident that the law and order machinery had totally failed in the state.
