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Amritsar police register zero FIR after assault on NRI in Himachal
Punjab NRI affairs minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal writes to Himachal chief minister for a thorough inquiry.
The Amritsar police on Sunday registered a zero FIR in connection with the alleged assault on an NRI, who alleged that he was recently thrashed by a group of men over parking issue in Himachal Pradesh’s Dalhousie. Undergoing treatment in a hospital here, NRI Kawaljit Singh has also claimed that he was targeted for being a Punjabi.
Taking a serious note of the assault, Punjab NRI affairs minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said the Punjab Police did so to present the victim’s side “correctly”. A copy of the same would be handed over to the HP DGP for action against the assailants, he said, adding that he had written to Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, seeking his intervention for a thorough inquiry.
Dhaliwal met the victim’s family in a hospital here and enquired about his health. He assured the family of government’s help.
Kawaljit, along with his Spanish wife and other relatives, had on Saturday said that the attack had taken place recently in Dalhousie over vehicle parking issue. He had alleged that they faced regional discrimination.
Dhaliwal said, “I tried to talk to the Himachal DGP but was told that he is out of the state right now.” Dhaliwal said that in a day or two he would meet the HP chief minister and the DGP to hand over a copy of the FIR.
The Ranjit Avenue police station of Amritsar has slapped Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 148 (rioting) of the Indian Penal Code. A zero FIR can be filed at any police station, irrespective of the place of incident or jurisdiction, and can later be transferred to the appropriate police station.
It is worth mentioning here the HP Police had on Saturday stated that the incident was not linked to any “interstate or inter-community dispute”. HP IG (Northern Range) Santosh Patial had said that Singh was doing palm reading for some women in Khajjiar (Chamba) when there was a scuffle as someone felt offended by this act. “Later, both parties reached a compromise and Kawaljit gave in writing that he wanted no legal action,” he had said.
