Cong corners govt on Abohar killing

Friday, 11/03/2016

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CHANDIGARH: The opposition Congress on Thursday cornered the Punjab government in the Vidhan Sabha on the Abohar killing case, highlighting the delay in the filing of ‘challan’ (charge sheet) and “the attempt by the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) to shield its ‘halqa’ ( area) in- charge, the main accused”.

Alle ging Akali pressure on police, leader of opposition Charanjit Singh Channi and his party colleague Sunil Jakhar confronted deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal during the zero hour and asked him to explain why else cops wouldn’t file a ‘challan’ about the killing of a Dalit man whose limbs had been first chopped off. 

Jakhar further stated on the floor of the House that: “The station house officer concerned, known in the area by the name of ‘Chameli’, had been living in the farmhouse of the SAD ‘halqa’ in-charge for four months at the time of murder. The challan ought to have been filed in the court on Thursday but wasn’t.” 

In his reply, the deputy CM termed the killing “most brutal” but declined to accept that the main accused was ‘halqa’ in-charge of his party. The term “halqa in-charge”, he said, had no legitimacy as such. 

“As a home minster, I can say that we got the FIR (firstinformation report) registered quickly, formed a special investigation team, and arrested 26 people,” said Sukhbir. 

On his accusing the Congress of politicising the matter, the Congress members walked into the well of the House, raising slogans before a walkout. They ignored chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, as he stood up to speak on the issue. 

Jakhar said no Akali leader had visited the Dalit victim’s family. Walking out, the Congress members also raised slogans against the Bharatiya Janata Party, a ruling ally, since during the pandemonium, BJP minister Surjit Kumar Jyani had accused the Cong ress of “politicising” the case. Ashwani Sekhri and Ajit Inder Singh Mofar of the Congress opted not to join the walkout. Sekhri stayed back to highlight the death of a slum-dweller of jaundice in Batala. “Because the government failed to use the slum-development funds, More than 150 people have been taken ill after drinking sewage-contaminated water.” said Sekhri. 

SCHOLARSHIP SCAM
Independent legislator Balwinder Singh Bains raised the issue of the Scheduled Caste scholarship scam, about how certain officials had faked the admissions of Scheduled Caste students in polytechnics and industrial training institutes (ITIs) to claim up to ` 60 crore from the Centre. “The government must reply to this embezzlement in the name of Dalit students,” said Bains. The zero hour ended before technical education Madan Mohan Mittal could reply.