Chandigarh:
The Punjab Police on Monday raided the home of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia in Amritsar in connection with the Majitha police station attack case, where an alleged attempt was made to free a detainee from police custody.
Police officials confirmed that teams were dispatched to arrest Majithia and other accused named in the FIR.
The operation ended without any arrest as Majithia was reportedly not present at his home when the police teams arrived.
According to the police, Bikram Majithia was part of an unlawful gathering of people, which attempted to free the detainee Jobanpreet at Majitha police station on Sunday.
Punjab Police has alleged that the crowd entered the police station premises, created a ruckus, damaged public property and forcibly freed the detainee, raising serious concerns over security and law enforcement.
“In case number 90, registered at Majitha police station on May 30, we arrested arrested an accused named Jobanpreet and formally arrested him. While he was being interrogated, around 11:30 am, a mob gathered in front of the police station to free him. They entered the police station forcefully, illegally, and as part of a pre-planned conspiracy, and threatened the police,” Senior Superintendent of Police Sohail Mir told reporters.
“They searched various rooms of the police station and then entered the interrogation room. They threatened him with weapons, damaged some case files, and forcibly removed him from police custody. The SHO and DSP arrived at the scene and tried to reason with them. They still tried to pull him away, but the police managed to take him back into custody and placed him back in the lockup,” he added.
“Taking cognisance of this incident, a case has already been registered, and we are conducting raids in various locations. The culprits will be arrested soon. We have just named six accused, but we are identifying more people. Bikram Singh Majithia was also a part of the unlawful assembly,” SSP Mir said.
Rejecting the allegations, Majithia’s lawyer Arshdeep Singh Kler claimed that Jobanpreet, served as a polling agent of the SAD during the recently concluded municipal elections, was never lodged in the police lock-up and was instead found inside the Station House Officer’s (SHO) room.
Kler further alleged that Jobanpreet had been illegally detained without any formal arrest. He questioned why police failed to issue any notice before taking him into custody and said a petition had already been moved before the Punjab and Haryana High Court challenging the alleged illegal detention.
Reacting sharply to the raid, Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal termed the entire episode an act of “political vendetta” by the Punjab government.
“Look, this is all political vendetta. They are misleading and frustrated. They put in full effort in Majithia’s constituency, first to cancel votes, then for booth capturing, but still Majithia Sahib won. Now they have made it a prestige issue to put him in jail. This is all a planned operation by the Punjab government,” Badal said.
MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal slammed Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government over the case against Majithia.
“The one who injured the head of one of our leaders was extracted from the police station by Majitha’s in-charge, but there was no action against him. But the one, kept in illegal confinement at the SHO’s house without any FIR and was about to be encountered at night, was rescued, and an FIR was registered against Majithia,” she told reporters.
“Entire Punjab is watching the frustration of the Chief Minister – why is he afraid of Bikram Majithia, why is the police being misused. What wrong did Bikram do? Look at how their vote share decreased in the Lok Sabha; half of Punjab voted against them (AAP), and this is just a way to express their frustration. What do they do apart from vendetta? The law and order are in the same state as the Chief Minister is,” she added.
