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Ludhiana: Contractors suspend work over ‘inaction’ in assault case
The road contractors association has demanded a CBI investigation and warned that if the administration fails to take adequate action, they will suspend services across Punjab
Road contractors across Ludhiana have suspended their work from Wednesday under the banner of the Ludhiana and Punjab Hot Mix Plant Association, raising concerns over “inadequate action amid political interference” in a case involving an attack on Nishant Gupta, son of the owner of Dass Builders.
Vikash Gupta, brother of Nishant, said, “Our firm is active in both Ludhiana and Moga . We had applied for a tender for a road project in Moga on August 21. After this, we started receiving threatening calls from a local contractor, Varinder Bansal, and his son, pressuring us to withdraw our tender. We initially did not take it seriously, trusting the law and order of the city. However, as the tender evaluation period drew near on August 25, their threats escalated.”
Vikash added, “On September 17, around four to five goons allegedly hired by Bansal assaulted my brother, who sustained multiple fractures. We filed an FIR at the division number 6 police station following which the father-son duo was arrested.”
“It is astonishing to witness that main accused Varinder Bansal and his son were released on September 24 due to political interference,” he said.
In addition, the association has demanded a CBI investigation and warned that if the administration fails to take adequate action, they will suspend services across Punjab. When contacted, Balwant Singh, station house officer of the division number 6 police station, refused to comment on the allegations. “An investigation is ongoing,” he stated.
