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Wanted SAD leader attends public events in Ludhiana, cops clueless
The absconding SAD leader, who was spotted attending public events across Ludhiana, is wanted for snatching, assault and hurting religious sentiments, and also has other cases lodged against him
Wanted for his involvement in multiple criminal cases, a SAD leader attended a public event on Monday with impunity, and rightly so.
While the police have been unable to trace wanted Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harpreet Singh Bedi, the ‘underground’ leader freely and fearlessly attended a function at the house of noted Punjabi singer Surinder Shinda in Satguru Nagar of Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar a couple of days ago, while the cops ostensibly on his tail remained none the wiser. Aam Aadmi Party’s Ludhiana West MLA Gurpreet Gogi was also at the event.
The absconding leader is wanted for snatching, assault and hurting religious sentiments, and also has other cases, including forgery, lodged against him. He was among the group that had turned up to meet the MLA, and he stayed at the function for at least an hour.
Harpreet Singh Bedi, who is purportedly untraceable, was finally spotted when the AAP MLA put up photographs of the felicitation event on his Facebook handle, and Bedi was spotted peaking through the attendees.
On February 24, Harpreet Singh Bedi, a resident of Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar, and his aides Gurpreet Singh Bedi, Inderjit Singh and Gurjant Singh and other unidentified persons were booked on the complaint of SAD leader Gurinderpal Singh.
Gurinderpal had alleged that they were campaigning in the favour of party candidate Maheshinder Singh Grewal on February 14 near the railway crossing in Sham Nagar, and had been invited to address the public on the invitation of party leader Baljinder Singh Matharu. However, Harpreet Singh Bedi objected to it, and also started hurling abuses at him.
“When I objected, the accused called his aides, and assaulted us. The assailants also tossed my turban, and then posted videos on social networking sites to humiliate us,” he had told the police.
A case under Sections 379B (theft), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 295A (malicious acts), 596 (criminal intimidation), 148 (rioting, armed with murder weapon), and 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) of the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Information And Technology Act has been lodged against the accused at the Dugri police station.
Confirming that Harpreet Singh Bedi is wanted by the police, inspector Harkirat Singh, Dugri station house officer said, “We were unaware of his presence at the event. We are carrying out raids for his arrest.”
When contacted, Gogi said he had been invited by some locals for a felicitation programme, and did not know all attendees personally.
Lack of coordination among police stations
Lack of coordination between the police stations also came to fore as the area where the event took place falls under the Sarabha Nagar police station. SHO Jaskanwal Singh said a forgery case had been lodged against Harpreet Singh Bedi at the Sarabha Nagar police station, but he is out on bail in the case. Therefore, they had no reason to apprehend him.
Clearly, the lack of coordination between the Dugri and Sarabha Nagar police stations allowed the accused to evade arrest.
Commissioner of po6lice seeks more force for the city
After inspecting different traffic posts and police stations, commissioner of police Kaustubh Sharma sought more force from the department to maintain law and order situation and to resolve the grievances of the people.
According to Sharma, the Ludhiana police commissionerate is around 4,000 personnel short as compared to the sanctioned force.He sought some personnel from Punjab Armed Police (PAP) that would be deployed in patrolling duty and other tasks.
After a surprise check at different traffic posts and police stations, commissioner found the police personnel present at most of the spots.
“We are taking some corrective measures that will be brought into effect soon. The police personnel have been asked to remain present on their duty and to be proactive. Some of the spots of the city should be manned all the time and I have already directed the officers about it,” Sharma said.
The Ludhiana police commissionerate has a strength of around 4.,000 police personnel.
Kaustubh Sharma joined as commissioner of police, Ludhiana, on April 9. He said resolving the complaints of the people will be his top priority.
