CCTV shows SHO at hotel, Cong’s Ladi seeks probe

SHAHKOT (JALANDHAR) : After a CCTV footage of Mehatpur police station house officer (SHO) Parminder Singh Bajwa entering a five-star hotel a few hours before registering an illegal mining case against Congress Shahkot candidate Hardev Singh Ladi Sherowalia was shown on a TV channel, the latter has urged the Punjab chief electoral officer to order a probe.

The case was registered against Ladi at 4.26am on Friday, within hours of the declaration of his candidature for the Shahkot assembly bypoll, which is scheduled for May 28.

“His presence in the hotel at that hour of the night and subsequent registration of a first information report (FIR) against me within a few hours has a direct bearing on the overall electoral situation for the Shahkot assembly byelection,” Ladi’s letter states.

He urged the chief electoral officer to initiate an immediate probe to verify the truth. “It was an attempt to malign my image,” he said.

“His (SHO’S) activities prior to the night of registration of an FIR against me are of urgent attention and utmost importance. As the television reports suggest, just a few hours before of registering an FIR against me, he was seen in a fivestar hotel around midnight,” reads Ladi’s letter.

Though Bajwa acknowledged that he was in the hotel on that day, he said it was his personal life and he can stay at any hotel. “I was being threatened due to

His activities before night of registration of an FIR against me are of urgent attention. As the TV reports suggest, just a few hours before, he was seen in a fivestar hotel around midnight. HARDEV SINGH LADI SHEROWALIA, Shahkot bypoll candidate

the FIR and there was a lot of pressure on me. So, I took shelter in the hotel,” he said.

Bajwa said he will sue the hotel authorities for releasing the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage and sharing his hotel bills.

Inspector general of police (IG), Jalandhar range, Naunihal Singh said he has not received any formal complaint against the station house officer.

The case was registered against Ladi following a complaint by Mohan Singh, general secretary of the brick kiln labourers’ union, who had written to the chief electoral officer alleging Ladi’s involvement in illegal mining.