Chandigarh, March 24 Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Tuesday criticized Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for not ordering a CBI investigation into the suicide of an official of the warehousing corporation, alleging that the government wanted to "protect" former minister Laljit Singh Bhullar.
Mann virtually rejected the demand for a CBI investigation into the alleged suicide of Gagandeep Singh Randhawa in Amritsar on Tuesday, saying that the state police is capable of fairly investigating the case, and no one will be shielded.
Randhawa, the district manager of the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation in Amritsar, allegedly committed suicide by consuming poison early Saturday.
A video surfaced on social media in which he purportedly claimed harassment by Bhullar, who later resigned from his ministerial position at the direction of the chief minister.
SAD leader and former Punjab minister Majithia criticized Mann for not handing over the investigation into the suicide case to the CBI.
"The Chief Minister's decision to deny a CBI probe exposed the government's involvement in corruption, intimidation, and criminal activities," Majithia alleged in a statement here.
Raising questions about the government's intentions, he alleged that the chief minister, "intoxicated with power," failed to acknowledge the pain of the deceased officer's family, including his children, elderly mother, and wife.
The Akali leader questioned the "silence" of AAP's female MLAs, saying those who speak about women's dignity in the Assembly failed to stand with a grieving widow.
Majithia asserted that Punjab was ready to hold the government accountable, and said that the "limit of atrocities" by the present dispensation was nearing its end.
Congress MP and former Deputy Chief Minister, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, also criticized Mann, asking if the Punjab government has nothing to hide, why is it afraid of an independent investigation?
"Why is the Punjab government not ready to have an investigation conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)?" he asked.
He urged the state government to rise above politics and allow an impartial investigation.
Former minister Bhullar, who was accused of abetting the suicide of Randhawa, was arrested from Mandi Gobindgarh in Fatehgarh Sahib district on Monday, two days after Randhawa's suicide.
The Amritsar police booked Bhullar, his father Sukhdev Singh Bhullar, and personal assistant Dilbag Singh on Saturday night under sections 108 (abetment of suicide), 351 (3) (criminal intimidation) and 3 (5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Mann had said on Monday that strict action would be taken against anyone who violates the law, regardless of their position.
