Chandigarh, Mar 22 (PTI) Police on Sunday used water cannons to disperse opposition members as they tried to force their way through barricades here to ‘gherao’ the residence of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann during a joint protest to demand the arrest of former minister Laljit Singh Bhullar, who is accused of abetting the suicide of a state warehousing corporation official.
Gagandeep Singh Randhawa, the district manager of Punjab State Warehousing Corporation in Amritsar, allegedly ended his life by consuming poison early Saturday and a video appeared in which he purportedly claimed harassment by Bhullar, who resigned as minister later in the day at the direction of Mann amid the row.
The police on Saturday night booked Bhullar, his father Sukhdev Singh Bhullar, and personal assistant Dilbag Singh under sections 108 (abetment of suicide), 351 (3) (criminal intimidation) and 3 (5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Congress and the BJP had announced that they will jointly ‘gherao’ (lay siege to) CM Mann’s residence to press their demand for the arrest of Bhullar.
Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa, Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar, along with SAD leaders Bikram Singh Majithia and Daljit Singh Cheema, were among those who took part in the protest.
A large police contingent was deployed at the MLAs’ Hostel here to prevent the protesters from heading towards the chief minister’s residence. Barricades were also erected by the Chandigarh police.
The opposition parties are demanding the arrest of Bhullar and a CBI probe into the circumstances that led to the suicide.
Punjab BJP chief Jakhar said they were seeking justice for Randhawa’s family.
Until Bhullar is arrested, the protest will continue, said Jakhar.
Akali leader Majithia told reporters that Bhullar should have been arrested in the matter.
Leader of Opposition Bajwa also condemned the AAP government for not immediately arresting Bhullar.
The family of Randhawa told reporters in Amritsar that they will not allow a post-mortem examination and cremation until Bhullar is arrested.
The FIR has been registered on a complaint of Randhawa’s wife, Upinder Kaur, at Ranjit Avenue Police Station in Amritsar on Saturday night, hours after Bhullar tendered his resignation from the state cabinet.
Earlier the same day, a video surfaced on social media in which Randhawa, who held the additional charge of Patti, was purportedly heard saying that he had consumed Celphos and accused the transport minister of harassment.
“Kha layi ‘celphos’ tuhade yaar ne. Minister Laljit Bhullar de dar ton. Hun nahi main bachda,” (Your friend has consumed Celphos because of fear of minister Laljit Bhullar. I will not survive now),” Randhawa said in the clip.
Bhullar, the MLA from Patti in Tarn Taran, rejected allegations against him as baseless. PTI CHS RT
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.