Sidhu, Punjab cabinet ministers detained on UP border
Darpan News Desk IANS, 07 Oct, 2021 11:03 AM
Chandigarh, Oct 7 (IANS) Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu along with Cabinet ministers and leaders were detained on Thursday on the Haryana-Uttar Pradesh border in Saharanpur as they were heading towards Lakhimpur Kheri where nine people were killed in violence that erupted during farmers' protests on Sunday (October 3).
They have been staging a sit-in protest at the border.
The leaders have been demanding the arrest of Union Minister Ajay Kumar Mishra's son Ashish Mishra in connection with the death of farmers during the violence.
Sidhu threatened to go on hunger strike if action is not taken against the minister's son by Friday.
He was accompanying Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Randhawa and cabinet ministers Pargat Singh and Vijay Inder Singla, besides former ministers Balbir Singh Sidhu, Gurpreet Kangar and Sunder Shyam Arora and other leaders.
Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi also joined Sidhu for a brief period when the vehicular march started in the morning from Mohali, near here.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday gave the go-ahead for putting a new Bill for this before the Cabinet, paving the way for its enactment in the next Assembly session.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Amarinder Singh said his government would be happy to work in conjunction with the Centre to ensure adherence to proper Covid-19 protocols, including testing and vaccination of pilgrims using the corridor.
A CBI spokesperson here said that the agency sleuths carried out searches at the premises of Eastern Coalfields Ltd General Manager Subhash Mukhopadhyay, retired General Manager Sushanta Banerjee, colliery agent H.C. Moitra, Manager, Security, Mukesh Kumar, and Inspector, Security, Rinku Behra.
Former Congress President and Sonia Gandhi's son, Rahul Gandhi, was also present during the meeting. The meeting was held at Sonia Gandhi's residence at 10 Janpath here.
The Prime Minister conveyed his warm greetings to President Biden and Vice President Harris and his appreciation for the initiatives taken by President Biden including those related to the Quad, Covid-19 and climate change.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has ordered Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) to cancel or revisit all the "one-sided" pacts with private companies that are not contractually obligated to supply sufficient power to meet the state's peak demand during the paddy sowing and summer season.
