Bargari probe: No faith in CBI, says CM
CHANDIGARH: Chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday reiterated that he had no faith in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the matter of the Bargari sacrilege case probe.
Reacting to the CBI’S move to transfer the probe to a special investigation team (SIT), Amarinder said even as the state government formally contested the decision in the court, the agency clearly acting under pressure from the central government at the behest of the Badals, was trying to stop the probe from going forward. The decision to hand over the case to a new SIT three months after it had filed a closure report in court was a clear ploy to delay the probe and stop the state government from taking over, he alleged in a written statement.
The CM said his government would continue to oppose the CBI in the court and also fight for getting the case back to the state. “We will not let anyone get away with cheating the people out of their due justice,” he said.
The CM also came down heavily on the Akali leadership, particularly Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, saying she should either persuade the Centre to send the case back to the state for a fair probe or should resign.
Amarinder said the CBI had exposed itself to be totally partisan and unfair in the entire affair. Despite repeated pleas and efforts from the state government, the central agency has failed to return the case files to Punjab Police. The failure is clearly deliberate and mischievous, so that the agency can buy time to divert the case to the new SIT, for its eventual burial,” he added.
‘CBI PROBE ‘CONTEMPT’ OF PUNJAB ASSEMBLY’
Punjab cooperation minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa termed the CBI’S decision to constitute a SIT to probe the Bargari sacrilege case as “contempt” of the state assembly.
Randhawa said the state assembly had unanimously resolved to withdraw the probe from the central agency. The resolution was adopted after a sevenhour debate on Justice Ranjit singh Commission report that had recommended further probe,” he said in a statement.