Akali leader Bharowal held for speaking against govt
Saturday, 28/11/2015
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LUDHIANA: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) working committee leader and chief minister’s confidant Pritam Singh Bharowal was arrested here on Thursday night for his alleged propaganda against his own party’s government.
Jagdeep Singh of Raikot’s Binjal village, who is brotherin-law of Bharowal’s son, NRI and social media activist Raghubir Singh Bharowal, was also arrested. The arrests came quickly after a case under Sections 294 (obscene acts), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered at the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) police station. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), through its state farmer and labour wing general secretary Ahbaab Singh Grewal, has called it “the killing of democracy”.
Last week, Delhi Police had booked NRI Raghubir Singh Bharowal for commenting against the SAD’s ‘Sadbhawna’ rally in Bathinda, but he had carried on his activities. The party high command had asked Pritam Singh to deter his son.
The case against the Akali leader is based on the statement of assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Ashwani Kumar, who is posted at the PAU police station. He has claimed that on patrolling duty on the Barewal road, where the accused lives, he saw the accused outside his house, trying to instigate people against the government. The cop claimed that when asked to stop, the accused had threatened and abused him.
AAP FLAYS MOVE
The AAP claims that Jagdeep was picked up on November 25 from his house by inspector Prem Singh of the Ludhiana CIA (crime investigation agency). AAP leader Ahbaab Grewal said this was “an attack on the NRI community and social media activists to suppress their opinion against the Badal regime”.
Pritam Singh and other SAD leaders were also booked on June 23 in a case of abetment to suicide after Youth Akali Dal (YAD) leader Santokh Singh Sukhana had hanged himself in a hotel room near the Ludhiana railway station.
