Chandigarh, June 7 (IANS) The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Tuesday said there was a grave threat to the life of former minister Bikram Singh Majithia and that there was every likelihood of him being implicated in another false case at the behest of AGDP Harpreet Sidhu who had been entrusted with the additional charge of prisons to settle political and personal scores.
Addressing a press conference here to highlight the letter written by Majithia's wife and Majitha legislator Ganieve Kaur Majithia to the DGP along with a copy to chief minister Bhagwant Mann, senior SAD leaders Maheshinder Singh Grewal and Daljit Singh Cheema demanded the immediate removal of Sidhu from the additional charge of the ADGP, Prisons, besides taking other necessary action in the case.
The leaders said there were grave apprehensions in the minds of the family of Majithia as well as that of the SAD that Sidhu had been posted as the ADGP Prisons with the motive of planting something on the former minister.
They said even though Sidhu was a most 'incompetent' police officer he was used by successive governments to settle scores with Majithia and that he had been posted as the ADGP, Prisons, with the same goal by the AAP government.
The SAD leaders said there was a severe animosity between the families of Majithia and Sidhu.
They said Sidhu was closely related to Majithia as the police officer's mother and the paternal aunt of Majithia were real sisters. "There has been bad blood between the families for generations with Sidhu's family blaming Majithia's family for the death of their aunt. This strained relationship and animosity was also withheld by Sidhu from the high court before he embarked upon conducting an inquiry on the alleged role of Majithia in a drug case."
Grewal and Cheema said when the high court did not proceed with the report of Sidhu, the latter maliciously handed over the report which was supposed to lie in a sealed envelope to Navjot Singh Sidhu, a politician who was inimical to Majithia.
The SAD leaders said towards the end of the term of the previous Congress government, Sidhu handed over his home cooked report to the DGP to register a false case under various sections of the NDPS Act against Majithia.
They said even after this, Sidhu kept interfering in the case and even wrote a letter to the AAP government on March 8 on which basis the SIT was reconstituted.
"Due to this Sidhu's dictat is treated as a command by the SIT which reports directly to him."
Over 7,400 Indian nationals are expected to be evacuated under the 'Operation Ganga' in the next two days, the government said on Thursday. The Centre has initiated an airlift operation to evacuate Indians, who have found their way to the neighbouring countries of war-torn Ukraine.
This advisory, prepared by the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, warns about aerial raids, missile attacks, artillery shelling, small arms and gunfire, grenade explosions and 'Molotov cocktails', including by local people/militia.
The flight IX-1202 with 183 passengers, including an infant, arrived at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport at around 5.40 a.m. The evacuees were received by Union Minister of State for Railways Raosaheb Danve-Patil with flowers and words of solace as they trooped out lugging their belongings.
"Indian students are being pushed out of trains, they are not allowed to board, if questioned they are being assaulted and guns are being pointed at them,". There are many incidents where Indians were asked to leave bunkers. Ukraninans are telling Indian students that India is not supporting them and why should they help them?
The two leaders reviewed the situation, especially in the city of Kharkiv where many Indian students are stuck, and discussed the safe evacuation of Indian nationals from the conflict areas, an MEA statement said.
Officials said the administration was in touch with the families of 32 students belonging to the Jammu division who are stranded in Ukraine. Officials said nine evacuation flights have so far brought back around 2,000 Indians stranded in Ukraine since February 26.
