On the basis of his complaint, police had filed an FIR for attempt to murder against two unidentified men at Jamalpur police station. (Representational)
Five days after a Shiv Sena (Hindustan) leader claimed that he was “attacked” by two men on a motorbike with an “intention to kill” him, the Ludhiana police Thursday arrested him for allegedly faking the attack and providing wrong information to police to get security cover. Shiv Sena (Hindustan) spokesperson Chandrakant Chaddha said that party chief Pawan Sharma has dismissed Narinder Bhardwaj (45) from the outfit with immediate affect.
Bhardwaj, the labour wing head of Shiv Sena (Hindustan), had in a statement to police on March 7 claimed that he was attacked by two masked men on motorbike while he stopped his Hyundai Santro car at a fuel station in Kohara area on the night of March 6. He had further alleged that attackers smashed windshield of his vehicle with rods, adding that they intended to kill him.
On the basis of his complaint, police had filed an FIR for attempt to murder against two unidentified men at Jamalpur police station.
Addressing a press conference Thursday, Ludhiana Police Commissioner Rakesh Agrawal said that during the investigation, Bhardwaj failed to prove his presence at the location where he claimed the attack happened. “According to our probe, at 8 pm on March 6, he was at his home and not in Kohara where he said that two men attacked him.
Also, his vehicle was damaged because it had met with an accident with an unidentified truck. However, he lied and claimed that it was vandalised by two attackers. During interrogation, he has confessed that he made up this story to get security cover and gunmen,” said CP Agrawal.
Bhardwaj, a native of Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, has been living in Ludhiana for 25 years. He has been associated with Shiv Sena (Hindustan) for nearly 28 years, said the police. Police said that Bhardwaj wanted his security cover back. He told police that he had been provided with a gunman earlier during targeted killings in Punjab in 2016-17, but police had withdrawn the security later. He had also applied for security cover few days back.
Police said that Bhardwaj has been arrested and booked under the Sections 195 (Giving or fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction of offense punishable with imprisonment for life or imprisonment) and 196 (using evidence known to be false) of IPC in an FIR registered at Jamalpur police station. Working as a supervisor at BP Lines Factory at Focal Point, he also used to provide labourers to other factories.