Punjab Deputy CM smells conspiracy in Singhu border killing
Darpan News Desk IANS, 19 Oct, 2021 10:44 AM
Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Randhawa on Tuesday said there appeared to be a deep-rooted conspiracy to defame the farmers' stir on the Singhu border dividing Haryana and Delhi.
Referring to the killing on October 15 of a Dalit labourer from Tarn Taran in Punjab, and latest disclosures in the media, the Deputy Chief Minister, who also holds the Home portfolio, promised complete justice, saying the government will reach to the bottom of the case and expose the conspirators behind the incident.
Randhawa said in view of the recent disclosures about one of the Nihang leaders having been in touch with Union Minister for Agriculture N. S. Tomar, the killing has taken an entirely different turn.
The same Nihang leader is now defending the main accused in the killing of Lakhbir Singh.
"Lakhbir Singh, the Dalit victim, belonged to village Cheema Kalan and was poor. We need to find out who lured him to the Singhu border and who paid for his travel as he could not even afford his meals," the Deputy Chief Minister said, while adding that he had instructed the local administration to find out under what circumstances he was taken from his home to the Singhu border.
He said in view of the recent photographic evidence, the Nihang leader will also need to explain in what capacity he had met the Union Agriculture Minister and whether he was mandated to do so by the farmers' organisations spearheading the campaign against the three new farm laws.
Randhawa said given the place the Nihang leader was camping at and staging the 'dharna' at the Singhu border, it was mandatory on his part to keep the farmers' unions informed about his meetings with the Union minister.
"This has raised genuine doubts and suspicion in the minds of people which will need to be cleared and the Punjab government will do everything to reach to the root of the conspiracy and expose and punish the culprits," he said in a statement.
The Minister while addressing the inaugural session of 'Connect Karo 2021 - Towards Equitable, Sustainable Indian Cities' event, said that there can be no doubt that India's cities "enabled by citizen-centric infrastructure and transformational technology" will be the key to achieving the nation's development objectives.
Meanwhile, India logged 27,254 new Covid cases in the last 24 hours. The country also reported 219 Covid deaths in the same time span. The country presently has nearly 3.75 lakh active cases.
At a virtual Covid-19 review meeting, the Chief Minister said vaccine effectiveness is evident from the data being analysed. Special efforts were made to reach out to the government employees, and those who continue to avoid getting vaccinated will now be asked to go on leave till they get the first dose.
DGP Dinkar Gupta said with the case load decreasing, people had started being lax about wearing masks, which the Health Department should strictly enforce with the help of the police.
Additional Chief Secretary Devendra Singh and Deputy Commissioner of Karnal Nishant Yadav are participating in the meeting. From the farmers side, BKU president Gurunam Singh Chaduni and the state leadership will present their demands.
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Balbir Singh Rajewal told the media here after the day-long deliberations with the political parties, except the BJP, that they had told the political parties not to hold big rallies till elections in the state are announced.
