Chandigarh, March 23 The family of a warehousing corporation official, who committed suicide after alleging harassment by former minister Laljit Singh Bhullar, issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the Punjab government to arrest him on Monday.
Gagandeep Singh Randhawa, the district manager of Punjab State Warehousing Corporation in Amritsar, allegedly ended his life by consuming poison early Saturday, and a video appeared in which he purportedly claimed harassment by Bhullar, who resigned as minister later in the day at the direction of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann amid the controversy.
The family of Randhawa has already said that they will not allow a post-mortem examination and cremation until Bhullar is arrested.
Speaking to the media in Amritsar on Monday, Randhawa's family expressed displeasure over Bhullar not being arrested yet and demanded that he be arrested at the earliest.
"It is my ultimatum that if nothing is done within 24 hours, then I, along with my children (two daughters and a son), will come on the roads," said Randhawa's wife Upinder Kaur, who is a science teacher.
A purported CCTV footage surfaced on social media on Monday, showing Randhawa consuming a poisonous substance.
The police on Saturday night booked Bhullar, his father Sukhdev Singh Bhullar and personal assistant Dilbag Singh under sections 108 (abetment of suicide), 351 (3) (criminal intimidation) and 3 (5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
A video surfaced on social media on Saturday in which Randhawa, who held the additional charge of Patti, was purportedly heard saying that he had consumed a poisonous substance and accused the transport minister of harassment.
"My friend has eaten 'celphos' because of the fear of minister Laljit Bhullar. I will not survive now," Randhawa had said.
In her complaint lodged with the police, Randhawa's wife Kaur claimed that her husband was constantly pressured to allot a warehouse tender to Bhullar's father and had even threatened to harm him and his family.
Kaur, in her complaint, which is part of the FIR, said her husband told her that he was continuously pressured that the tender should be approved in the name of Bhullar's father under any circumstances.
Bhullar, his father Sukhdev Singh Bhullar and his PA Dilbagh Singh allegedly threatened that if the tender was not approved in the name of Sukhdev Singh Bhullar, then Randhawa and his family would have to face consequences, Randhawa's wife Kaur said in her complaint.
As per the FIR, Randhawa was called to Bhullar's residence on March 13 in Patti, where he was allegedly humiliated and assaulted.
His husband, at a gunpoint, was forced to admit that he took Rs 10 lakh for allotting the warehouse tender to another party, Kaur alleged in her complaint.
Bhullar, the MLA from Patti in Tarn Taran, rejected the allegations against him as baseless.
On Saturday, CM Mann said he had directed the chief secretary to conduct an impartial probe into the matter and asked the minister to step down for a fair probe.
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