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DM’s suicide: Opposition targets AAP govt, seeks FIR against ex-minister Laljit Singh Bhullar
As the purported video of Gagandeep Singh Randhawa, 45, the Amritsar district manager of the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation (PSWC), surfaced online, the opposition party leaders slammed the AAP government and demanded action against Bhullar.
The death of the government official in Amritsar, followed by the resignation of minister Laljit Singh Bhullar, whose name surfaced in the case, has provided fresh fodder to the opposition against the AAP government in Punjab.
The controversy stems from a dispute over warehousing tenders. As the purported video of Gagandeep Singh Randhawa, 45, the Amritsar district manager of the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation (PSWC), surfaced online, the opposition party leaders slammed the AAP government and demanded action against Bhullar.
Senior Congress leader and leader of opposition in the Punjab assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa, said Randhawa’s death raises deeply troubling questions that cannot be overlooked.
“Serious allegations have surfaced against AAP minister Laljit Singh Bhullar, including claims of assault and sustained harassment. The responsibility now lies with @BhagwantMann and @PunjabPoliceInd to demonstrate that the law applies equally to everyone, regardless of position or power. Any delay or inaction will only deepen public mistrust. This is not about politics; it is about accountability and justice. My demand is that an FIR be registered against Bhullar,” Bajwa said in a post on X.
Bajwa, along with Gurdaspur MP and former deputy CM Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Amritsar MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla, met with the deceased kin in Amritsar and sought strict action against the accused AAP minister.
Kin allege threats, assault by Bhullar over tenders
Meanwhile, Randhawa’s maternal uncle Sahib Singh alleged that the officer was scared after Bhullar allegedly issued threats.
“The minister threatened that he would get his children and wife eliminated by the gangsters. So, Gagandeep was quite worried and took his elderly mother to my house a few days ago. Randhawa was mentally harassed because he refused to clear tenders for godowns which the minister wanted to be allotted to his father, Sukhdev Singh Bhullar,” he said. The kin also accused Laljit Bhullar of assaulting Randhawa over warehousing tenders.
“When Gagandeep was summoned by the then minister to his residence on March 13, his father, Sukhdev Singh Bhullar, was also allegedly present. The officer was badly thrashed at the minister’s house,” alleged one of the relatives at the hospital.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal also visited Randhawa’s house and said he will remain there till an FIR is registered in the case.
“The minister must be booked for murder, and the investigation should be immediately transferred to the CBI for a fair, impartial probe,” Sukhbir said.
SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia shared several letters on social media, purportedly written by the deceased to various government officers, highlighting alleged pressure and threats from the minister.
HT could not independently verify the veracity of letters.
Late on Saturday, Majithia said it has been decided that all parties -- SAD, Congress and BJP -- will gherao Mann’s residence on Sunday.
Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar, Akali Dal and Congress leader and Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa took a decision in this regard in Amritsar, he added.
Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar said,” Earlier, people were losing their lives due to non-payment of ransoms, but now the officers are having to give their lives due to the inability to fulfil the bribe demands of the government ministers.”
Jakhar, who visited the deceased family in Amritsar, added that Punjab is going through a difficult time under the rule of the present government. “Will CM still calling his government honest?” Jakhar said in a post on X.
Punjab BJP working president and Pathankot MLA, Ashwani Sharma, sought the immediate arrest of Bhullar and demanded a CBI probe into the case.
“Laljit Bhullar should be arrested immediately on the basis of the dying declaration / statement given before death. If Bhagwant Mann really wants to do justice, then write for a CBI investigation. The BJP stands firmly with Gagandeep’s family,” Sharma said.
Amritsar’s Congress MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla, while speaking to reporters in Amritsar, alleged that Bhullar had applied for a warehouse tender in his father’s name. “However, when the tender was allotted to some other person, Randhawa was called to Bhullar’s residence and was assaulted,” Aujla alleged.
