2 ex-sarpanches among 3 booked

TARN TARAN: Three persons, including two former sarpanches, were booked for allegedly manhandling Jarnail Singh, sub-divisional officer (SDO) of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) at Cheema Kalan village here on Friday.

Police said, on Thursday, the PSPCL official went to check power theft in the village where he was badly thrashed and his turban was also tossed.

The incident angered the PSPCL staff and members of the employees’ union which staged a dharna outside the Sarai Amanat Khan police station seeking an FIR against the accused. An FIR was registered at 2pm on Friday.

The accused include Sonu Cheema, Malkit Singh (both former sarpanches of neighbouring village Cheema Khurd and associated to the Shiromani Akali Dal) and Inderjit Singh, resident of village Cheema Kalan.

Investigation officer Sukhdev Singh said a case has been registered under Sections 379, 332, 353, 186, 506, 148 and 149 of the IPC. The accused are on the run and the cops have launched a drive to hunt the accused, he added.htc