Were not pressured to give statement, say witnesses
FARIDKOT: A couple of weeks after family of the key witness in 2015 Behbal Kalan firing case alleged that two Congress MLAS pressured him to give statement in favour of accused cops, eight other witnesses on Tuesday said no one ever asked them to depose in someone’s favour.
Surjit Singh, the key witness in the case, died January 15 and his family blamed relatives of a village Congress leader of harassing them at the instance of two Congress MLAS. They alleged that the harassment allegedly led to his death.
During a press conference here on Tuesday, witnesses Hakam Singh Sekhon, Gurdit Singh, Angrej Singh, Balkaran Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Barma Singh, Ranjit Singh and Beant Singh said instead of fighting for justice, politicians are indulging in blame game over Behbal Kalan, Kotkapura and Bargari incidents.
“Surjit Singh was not the lone witness in the 2015 police firing case as claimed by Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal. There are 23 other witnesses. We have appeared before Supreme Court judge Justice Katju, Justice Jora Singh Commission, Justice Ranjit Singh Commission and the special investigation team as witnesses and recorded our statements. But Surjit never appeared before the SIT team as,” they said.
“The claim that Surjit was pressured is politically motivated.
SAY THE CLAIM THAT ONE OF THE WITNESSES WAS PRESSURED IS POLITICALLY MOTIVATED; PSPCL DIDN’T ONLY PENALISE HIM, BUT ALSO EIGHT OTHER HOUSES
The Punjab State Power Corporation Limited didn’t only imposed penalty of Surjit, as claimed by his family, but eight other houses of our village were also fined for violations,” they added.
The witnesses said that this issue has been raised under a conspiracy to save the people responsible for sacrilege and firing incidents.
They appealed political parties to fight for justice to the Sikh community by punishing the real culprits.
FRESH COMPLAINT AGAINST MINISTER, CM’S ADVISER
Surjit’s wife Jasvir Kaur has named revenue minister Gurpreet Singh Kangar and CM’S political adviser Kushaldeep Dhillon in a fresh complaint filed at Bajakhana police station and demanded action against them and eight other, including three PSPCL employees and two cops, for “mounting” pressure on her husband.
She has also named the local Congress leader Manjinder Singh and two others, who have been booked on her previous complaint. Surjit’s son Lakhwinder said: “Police are trying to save people responsible for my father’s death. The cops and PSPCL employees harassed us at the behest of Kangar and Dhillon. Mild sections have been imposed in the FIR against Manjinder,” he added.