Chandigarh, Sep 5 (PTI) The Shiromani Akali Dal and the Congress held a protest on Saturday here against Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s wife, Gurpreet Kaur, over allegations that she sought Rs 5 crore to suppress two rape cases, demanding the registration of an FIR against her.
Kaur has rejected the charges, terming them “baseless”. Several women Akali leaders, including SAD MP and former union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Akali MLA Ganieve Kaur Majithia, were detained when they tried to breach barricades to proceed towards the Punjab chief minister’s residence to ‘gherao’ it.
A heavy police force was deployed, and the area was barricaded to prevent the Akali protesters from marching to the chief minister’s residence.
The Shiromani Akali Dal women’s wing, Instri Akali Dal, had planned the gherao. When the women protesters led by Harsimrat Kaur Badal attempted to move towards the chief minister’s residence while forcing their way through barricades, Chandigarh police detained them and took them to a police station, the party said.
Carrying Akali Dal flags and placards, the women protesters even sat on the road near the Akali Dal office in Sector 28 and raised slogans against the Punjab government.
Earlier, addressing a gathering of women protesters, Harsimrat attacked Mann’s wife and alleged that she demanded Rs 5 crore to suppress two rape cases. She demanded that police register a case against Mann’s wife.
“The chief minister’s wife sought money to let off the accused, social media influencer Gurwinder Singh alias Guri Chahal, against whom two women filed rape and kidnapping charges,” Harsimrat alleged.
She claimed that the accused was “released” within two months and was also allowed to flee to the United States. She said the SAD would launch a mass movement across the state until Kaur was arrested.
The MP also called for extending protection to the rape victims who registered complaints against the social media influencer, besides demanding a CBI probe into the entire incident. After she was detained, Akali MLA Ganieve Kaur Majithia said they cannot be stopped from speaking the truth.
“We cannot be stopped from fighting for truth,” said Majithia, wife of former Punjab minister Bikram Singh Majithia.
On September 3, a delegation of the SAD met Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria, seeking his intervention for an independent probe into the allegations that Mann’s wife sought Rs 5 crore to suppress a rape case.
Punjab Pradesh Mahila Congress also staged a demonstration on the issue.
Police prevented Congress women activists from advancing to Mann’s residence to gherao, party workers said. Punjab Mahila Congress president Baljit Kaur alleged that a transaction of Rs 5 crore was made to secure the release of an accused in the rape case. She demanded a high-level enquiry into the matter and strict legal action against Kaur. PTI CHS ASD ASD
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