Chandigarh, Sep 8 (PTI) The Punjab unit of BJP on Tuesday sought an abetment of suicide against Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema for the suspected suicide of a villager in a meeting here with Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria.
The BJP delegation also took up the matter of another villager from Sangrur who alleged custodial torture by police officials a few days ago for waving a black flag and raising slogans against the AAP government for failing to curb the drug menace.
Led by BJP state unit president Kewal Singh Dhillon, party leaders Subhash Sharma, Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, Parminder Singh Brar and Vineet Joshi met the governor, sought that the two matters be investigated and demanded that they be handed over to the CBI.
In a memorandum submitted to the governor, the Punjab BJP delegation raised the two incidents in Sangrur, alleging that they raised serious questions over the functioning of the state government and police accountability.
The BJP demanded that an FIR be registered for abetment to suicide against Cheema and all other persons named by Sangrur villager Gulzar Singh in a video before his death.
Gulzar Singh, a 47-year-old from Dirba in Sangrur district, died on Monday night after allegedly consuming poison. His family said he had questioned Cheema about the supply of drugs in the area during an event in Dirba on September 6.
His nephew Karanvir Singh said Gulzar Singh was taken outside the venue by some local villagers after he questioned Cheema. The daily wager was also pressured by locals to seek an apology and consumed poison, Karanvir said.
The BJP delegation claimed that Singh raised the issue of alleged “open sale” of drugs in his area during a programme of Cheema and sought action against the drug menace.
His family, it said, had also been severely affected by his son’s addiction to the drug.
The party further alleged that Singh subsequently faced pressure from local panchayat members to apologise for raising the issue.
“More significantly, in a video recorded before his death or in a dying declaration, he took the name of FM Cheema and persons whom he held responsible for circumstances that drove him to take the extreme step,” the BJP claimed in the memorandum.
The BJP urged that the case should not be treated merely as an ordinary suicide case and sought immediate registration of an FIR.
As the matter involved the state finance minister, Dhillon said the BJP does not expect a “free and fair investigation” and demanded that, after registration of the FIR, the probe be handed over to an independent agency such as the CBI.
The BJP also took up the matter of Mohanjit Singh, a resident of Sheron village in Sangrur, who claimed that he was tortured by the Punjab Police in its custody following his detention after he waved a black flag from the rooftop of a house near the venue of Mann’s ‘Lok Milni’ programme on September 2.
He claimed that he was raising slogans against the AAP government’s alleged failure to curb the drug menace.
Singh further claimed that, while in police custody, he was given an electric shock, his beard was pulled, salt was rubbed on his wounds, and his undergarment was torn.
The BJP demanded the registration of an FIR against all civil officials who ordered or authorised his removal from near the programme venue and police officials found responsible for allegedly torturing him. It sought an independent probe, preferably by an agency such as the CBI, in the matter. PTI CHS SKY SKY
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