A day after an advocate who had filed a complaint against Punjab Cabinet Minister Anil Joshi in dual voting case was allegedly attacked by a group of persons, the Punjab police on Sunday booked eight men, including Amritsar BJP councillor.
The assailants had attacked advocate Vaneet Mahajan and his brother Avneesh when they were travelling in their car on the court road on Saturday evening.Amritsar Commissioner of Police JS Aulakh said that eight persons had been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including attempt to murder, for the attack on the advocate and his brother.Among those booked by police include the city’s BJP councillor Prabhjeet Ratoul, Aulakh said, adding that no arrest had been made so far.
Vaneet Mahajan and his colleague advocate Sandeep Gorsi had dragged the State local bodies Minister Joshi to the court in a dual voting case, his wife Monica and seven members of the Minister’s family. A local court,on Friday, had issued bailable warrants against Joshi in the dual vote case.Mahajan alleged that he and Gorsi were being targeted as they had to depose against Joshi in court tomorrow but Joshi said he had nothing to do with the incident.On Friday night, an attempt to murder case was also registered against Gorsi on the complaint of Rakesh Bhardwaj, a former private assistant of Joshi.
Bhardwaj had alleged that on Friday, Gorsi and Amritsar Municipal Councillor Gurinder Rishi of the Congress had made a murderous attack on him. However, Gorsi said that he had been implicated in a false case.Joshi said that he had nothing to do with the incidents that took place on Friday and Saturday and the advocates were trying to malign his image. “They blame me for everything that happens in Amritsar,” he added.Meanwhile, the Punjab Congress described it as a case of vendetta and threatened to launch a protest in the city.
A local court had recently issued non-bailable warrants against the minister in two separate defamation cases and another related to destruction of private property filed by the two lawyers.Joshi’s application for anticipatory bail is to come up for hearing in the court of the district sessions judge in these cases on Monday, May 12.