MLA Simarjeet Bains booked for trespass
Lok Insaaf Party leader and MLA Simarjeet Bains was booked for trespassing into Ludhiana passport office.
LUDHIANA/CHANDIGARH: Hitting police investigation against him, Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) MLA from Atam Nagar Simarjeet Singh Bains, booked for obstructing public servants and for trespass at the passport office on Tuesday, flew to Australia on Wednesday morning for a Baisakhi event and will return by May 5. Assistant passport officer Yashpal had alleged that Bains, along with supporters and gunmen, forcibly entered the Passport Seva Kendra, on Tuesday, and started making videos on phones, scaring away applicants and disrupting work.
This was the second time since August that Bains had trespassed, Yaspal had claimed.
In another development, Chandigarh Regional Passport Office (RPO) will issue a showcause notice to Bains.
This was after members of Ludhiana Passport Employees’ Association threatened to go on a strike. They even demanded the shifting of their office to Chandigarh.
Passport officer Sibash Kabiraj said, “Just last week, we had renewed the short-validity passport of Simarjeet Singh Bains on the orders of a local court in Ludhiana. It has been found that he did not disclose details of several criminal cases pending against him. Therefore, we are issuing him a show-cause notice, seeking a reply on why he did not disclose details of criminal cases pending against him.”
Bains would have to reply within 15 days. Officials added that the department had the right to revoke Bains' passport and if this was done, he would be deported immediately from Australia to India.
Went there to check touts, graft claims brother
Simarjeet’s brother, Balwinder Singh Bains, the MLA from Ludhiana South, claimed that his brother had gone to the passport office to expose unauthorised agents. “We had information that one Harpreet Singh got prepared a voter I-card within a few minutes by paying ₹14,000 to touts outside the passport office. Employees at the office accepted the document without verification. My brother pointed this out,” he claimed.
Simarjeet also released a statement, claiming that he would continue to visit government offices to expose corruption.
Bains has been booked under sections 451 (trespass), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from duty), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC at Model Town police station.
500 PASSPORTS REVOKED
Around 500 passports from Punjab and Haryana were revoked on Wednesday.
The RPO said the reason for cancellation of these passports was either furnishing of false information with respect to pending criminal cases or the wrong address of the applicant.