Amid rising political clamour over the cremation of a 23-year-old Dalit suicide victim without his family present, cabinet minister Aman Arora on Saturday denied any involvement in the suicide case and rejected allegations that he was exerting pressure to protect the village sarpanch and his aides.
Arora said the arrest of Congress leader Rajinder Deepa, his brother-in-law, was made in accordance with law and order requirements. He also said there was no evidence against the sarpanch and his aides, whose arrest the victim’s family and the Congress had been demanding.
“Anyone can name anyone” if arrests are made without evidence, Arora said, adding that he did not interfere in such matters. He said anyone found guilty would not be spared.
Arora also rejected allegations raised during a recent meeting at the Sangrur SSP’s office that he and cabinet colleague Harpal Singh Cheema were trying to protect the Kanoi village sarpanch. He said the meeting was actually related to a sewage treatment plant and the allegations were “complete nonsense”.
The minister said the suicide of the youth was unfortunate but accused political parties of “doing politics on dead bodies”. Referring to other recent cases in Sangrur, including an attempted suicide by a Namol resident outside the district administrative complex, he said such incidents should not happen but politicising them was also condemnable.
{{/usCountry}}The minister said the suicide of the youth was unfortunate but accused political parties of “doing politics on dead bodies”. Referring to other recent cases in Sangrur, including an attempted suicide by a Namol resident outside the district administrative complex, he said such incidents should not happen but politicising them was also condemnable.
{{/usCountry}}The youth died on September 25 after allegedly consuming a poisonous substance. His family has alleged that he was subjected to casteist slurs and harassment by the Kanoi sarpanch and three others, who were booked on September 28 for alleged abetment of suicide. The family has also sought provisions under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The family has alleged that police did not allow them to see the youth for the last time before his cremation on Thursday. Police have denied the allegation, saying the body had begun decomposing and the family repeatedly refused to proceed with the post-mortem.
Police had arrested Deepa and three relatives on Thursday for allegedly obstructing police during the standoff over the cremation, while other relatives, including the youth’s mother and grandfather, were detained preventively. They were subsequently released.
Arora also congratulated newly appointed Punjab Congress president Pargat Singh and took a dig at the Congress, saying its “work culture” was to sideline hardworking leaders and workers. He advised such leaders to jump from “sinking ships”.