Punjab unit president of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) Brij Bhushan Singh Bedi on Sunday demanded from the State Government to ask the Central probing agency to expedite its probe into the killing of the body’s senior leader Jagdish Gagneja.
The RSS leader was shot by two motorcycle-borne assailants on August 6 last year. He later succumbed to the injuries at a hospital.
“It has been eight months since the probe was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). However, the agency is yet to find out anything substantial,” he said.
The probe must be speed-up and the assailants must be identified and arrested, Bedi said.
He said the CBI, “Usually, does not take much time in gathering evidences and making arrests. However, the case is not so in Punjab”.
The State RSS chief claimed, “I think the CBI is not getting anything because there was a delay in handing over the probe to them.”
Hitting out at the then SAD-BJP Government, Bedi alleged that it did not show urgency in the matter. “The RSS had demanded that the case be handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). However, it went unheard,” he added.
Brigadier (retired) Jagdish Gagneja — second-in-command in RSS Punjab unit — breathed his last on September 22, after battling for his life since August 6.
The 68-year-old Punjab RSS’ vice-president was shot at thrice by the two “unidentified” bike-borne assailants, following which, he was struggling to recover from the injuries. The murderous attack left his intestines and other vital organs ruptured with bullet marks.
Since the incident, Gagneja’s attackers are still unidentified. Despite CBI enquiry and Rs10 lakh reward money, the enquiry is in a blind alley.
Buckling under the pressure of the RSS and the BJP, the then Punjab Government had handed over the probe to the central investigating agency after the State police inquiry hit a dead end.
The State police had also announced a job and Rs10 lakh reward to anyone who could provide information about the attackers.