Book Muktsar SSP for helping goons capture booths: SAD

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Thursday demanded that Muktsar senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manjit Singh Dhesi be booked and suspended as cops in the district helped Congress workers in booth capturing during the zila parishad and panchayat samiti polls on Wednesday.

Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh, SAD leaders Bikram Singh Majithia, Maheshinder Singh Grewal and Daljit Singh Cheema said the Muktsar SSP is a brother of the chief minister’s politically appointed officer on special duty (OSD) Sonu Dhesi and he gave directions to the district police to help Congress workers capture booths.

“Dhesi led the Congress charge in the district and this is the reason why of a total of 53 booths where re-polling has been ordered, 36 are in Muktsar district and 11 in the Lambi constituency alone,” said Grewal.

The Akali leaders alleged that the SSP is biased towards the Congress to the extent that no case has been registered against a single party worker or officer despite large-scale booth capturing.

“The SSP should be punished for allowing gangsters have a free run in Muktsar district. Former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal went to Killianwali in Muktsar upon getting information about booth capturing. He called up the director general of police (DGP) eight times and the inspector general of police (IG) twice, but to no avail.

“Though the DGP talked to him (Badal) but he failed to do anything. He even called the Muktsar SSP but his official phone remained switched off. The IG said he was out of station. After failing to get any word from police, Badal saab accompanied by SAD president Sukhbir Badal chose to go to people,” said Grewal.

He claimed that a false case was registered against the SAD president at the behest of the SSP only and no medical report was prepared even as the sections of grievous hurt were added to the first information report (FIR).

Grewal said Sukhbir will not file for anticipatory bail in the case which he termed as political vendetta.

First Published: Sep 20, 2018 22:21 IST