Police use a water cannon to disperse protesters as they try to remove barricades during a march towards Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s residence in Chandigarh on Sunday. Tribune photos: Pardeep Tewari
Hundreds of political leaders and workers today got together in a rare show of unity among all Opposition parties in the state to demand a CBI probe into the death by suicide of an officer, Gagandeep Singh Randhawa, and arrest of former minister Laljit Singh Bhullar, who is accused of abetting the suicide.
Cutting across party lines, leaders of the Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal, BJP and CPI converged in huge numbers on the Punjab MLA Hostel Complex here around noon to protest against the alleged “unwillingness of the government to arrest ex-minister Bhullar, his father Sukhdev Singh and PA Dilbagh Singh” and demanded that the case be handed over to the CBI.
Leader of the Opposition in state Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa, state Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, state BJP chief Sunil Jakhar and SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia raised anti-government slogans and braved water cannons before they were rounded up by the Chandigarh Police. They were released around 3.15 pm after they squatted in the Sector 3 police station and raised slogans against the AAP government in Punjab.
‘Is CM partner in crime’
CM Mann was in Amritsar, but did not meet the bereaved family of Randhawa. Why this silence… is he a partner in crime with Laljit Singh Bhullar? Partap Singh Bajwa, Leader of Opposition in state Assembly
‘Protests at all dist HQs today’
Earlier, the AAP was only looting people… now they have started killing them. We will hold protests at all district headquarters on Monday. Justice is pending till Bhullar is arrested. Sunil Jakhar, state BJP president
‘Hand over probe to CBI’
If the CM is not patronising Laljit Singh Bhullar, he should hand over the probe to the CBI. The former minister, his father and PA should be arrested immediately.
Bikram Singh Majithia, SAD leader
Till the filing of this report, Bhullar had not been arrested and his whereabouts were not known, though well-placed sources said he was not in Punjab, nor were his father or PA. The party, still reeling under shock, has gone into a huddle to decide on the future course of action. With Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann reportedly leaving for Gujarat for four days on Tuesday, the state’s ruling party is unlikely to arrest Bhullar anytime soon.
Two incidents — the arrest of an AAP Sarpanch with drugs last week and Randhawa’s suicide — have rattled the party top brass. Now, a number of employees unions, including the Joint Coordination Committee of State Procurement Agencies, have extended their support to the family of the deceased officer and threatened to stop all work.
Though the party did not respond to the queries regarding the whereabouts of former minister Bhullar, a senior leader said, “The former minister will soon join the investigation.” In the government’s defence, he insisted that after Randhawa had written a letter to the MD of the warehousing corporation on March 14 seeking transfer, he was issued transfer orders to the head office at Chandigarh on March 19.
The idea of holding a joint protest was mooted on Saturday when leaders from all Opposition parties had reached Amritsar in support of the family of Punjab Warehousing Corporation district manager Gagandeep Singh Randhawa to demand justice for him. They had decided to together march towards the CM’s residence and hold a protest there.
Leaders and workers of the Congress, SAD and BJP, including sitting and former MLAs and MPs, started arriving at the MLA Hostel on Sunday morning where they raised slogans against the government. The BJP and Akali Dal workers and leaders were the first to arrive, but it was the Congress that brought in more crowds. State PPCC chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, party leaders Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Rana KP Singh, OP Soni, Avtar Henry Junior and others also reached there.
The deceased officer’s brother Varinder Singh Randhawa accompanied Majithia from Amritsar to participate in the protest march. The Chandigarh Police had deployed a posse of personnel and Vajra and Varuna vehicles to stop the protesters from marching towards the CM’s residence. Heavy barricading was done at both the entry points of the MLA Hostel Complex. As the protesters began their march and tried to break the multi-layered barricades, the police used water cannons on them. Attempts to break the barricades continued for almost an hour, before these protesters were rounded up and taken to the Sector 3 police station