In a suspected case of “political murder”, an Akali sarpanch has been beaten to death allegedly by a group of Congress workers in Cheath Kalan village of Attari Assembly constituency.
Chattiwind SHO Amarjit Singh on Wednesday said that a first information report (FIR) has been registered against four persons.
Victim, Gurpinder Singh laali, engaged in a verbal duel with the suspects on Tuesday evening which later turned into a scuffle. laali fainted during the clash and was rushed to a hospital where he died, Singh said adding that the efforts are on to trace the suspects.
Condemning the brutal killing, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal said that the death of laali was the result of vendetta unleashed by the Congress-led State Government on Akali workers.
“If the local police had swung into action, a young life could have been saved,” he said.
Sukhbir alleged that the Congress cadre had been given a free hand to indulge in such vendetta against the Akalis even as the Government espoused innocence on the issue.
Stating that the SAD “would not sit back and let the Congress workers indulge in ‘goonda raj'”, Sukhbir asked the party’s district presidents to hold dharnas and protests against such instances.
He added that the party would help the victims of such vendetta by taking up their cases in court.
“The party would also help victims of vendetta by taking up their cases in court and would also get all officials abetting the current vendetta drive hauled up as per the law,” he said.
Taking in the Congress Government, Sukhbir said: “Punjab is burning even as the new rulers of Punjab are busy fiddling with rules and regulations to change all pro-people SAD-BJP decisions.”
He said that a series of incidents had proved that there was a dichotomy in the message being given by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and what was happening in the field.
SAD president demanded concrete action in all cases of vendetta incidents, including killings.
“If the Government wanted to send a clear message to the people that it is against this exercise, it should proceed against Congress leaders named by the victims,”
he added.