The Punjab Police have told the Punjab and Haryana high court that the family has not been able to provide the original video in which a Dalit man, before allegedly dying by suicide on September 8 in Sangrur, was seen blaming several individuals.
The government response came to a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking CBI probe into the incident.
The Dalit man reportedly raised questions about the availability of drugs in his village during a public interaction with finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema on September 6. He later died after allegedly consuming poison, with his family claiming he faced pressure following the incident. He allegedly blamed the finance minister, among others, for his extreme act.
A report by senior superintendent of police, Sangrur, Ravjot Grewal, said that the FIR has been registered on September 8 on the complaint of the deceased person’s son against Baljit Singh, Vicky Singh, Gona Singh and Baljinder Kaur, all of whom were arrested. One more person named in the FIR, Sukhdev Singh, is still at large. A special investigative team has been constituted under the supervision of ADGP Naunihal Singh with four other senior officers as members.
“... the efforts were made to bring on record the original video/device on which the said video was recorded. However, the complainant and the family members of the deceased did not submit the said device till date,” the affidavit said, adding that on four occasions the son was told to produce the phone.
{{/usCountry}}“... the efforts were made to bring on record the original video/device on which the said video was recorded. However, the complainant and the family members of the deceased did not submit the said device till date,” the affidavit said, adding that on four occasions the son was told to produce the phone.
{{/usCountry}}The son recorded his statement on September 27 according to which he has stated that he does not have any video recording pertaining to the death of his father, the affidavit further added.
The report further said that there are multiple videos that have been collected as a part of investigation. The said videos have been obtained through social media monitoring as the original source of these videos have not been supplied by the complainant till date. These videos are being analysed as there are multiple videos with different versions, it said.
The police have also refuted allegations that the last rites were done in a hurried manner. The same were performed with the consent of his family members, the police claimed.
The petition by the son seeking a CBI probe was also taken up with the PIL on Tuesday. The hearing on both the petitions have been adjourned for October.