Congress MP Bittu assaulted at Singhu border, turban tossed

LUDHIANA/CHANDIGARH : Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu was Sunday allegedly assaulted, pushed around and his turban pulled off in what he described was a “murderous attack” by some “mischievous elements” during a ‘Jan Sansad’ programme at the Singhu border.

The Ludhiana MP’s vehicle was also damaged in the attack at the Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji Memorial where he had gone with Congress’ Amritsar MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla and party MLA Kulbir Singh Zira to attend the event.

“I was ambushed by a group of people armed with sticks and weapons. Though the attack was carried out in a planned manner, we left immediately because we did not want the farmers’ protest to be disrupted due to some miscreants,” Bittu told reporters.

According to police officials, no complaint has been received about the alleged incident so far.

Speaking to the Hindustan Times, Bittu said he had visited the location at the invitation of social activist Medha Patkar and senior Supreme Court advocate Prashant Bhushan.

Bittu, the grandson of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh who was assassinated in 1995, Aujla and Zira have been holding a protest at the Jantar Mantar in Delhi for the past several days in support of the ongoing farmers’ agitation against the Centre’s three agriculture laws.

Bittu claimed a few people thrashed him near the memorial, pulled off his turban and pushed him around. In the melee, Zira’s turban also came off.

Some people were trying to save Bittu and escorted him to his vehicle. However, even as he entered in his vehicle, a group of people attacked his SUV with sticks, broke its glass panes, rear windscreen and damaged its front windshield.

The reason why Bittu was attacked was not immediately clear.