Youth Akali Dal lays siege to ex-IG Kunwar Vijay’s Amritsar residence

Demand criminal case against former cop for his alleged link with an accused in the ₹15-crore medical drug seizure case

Activists of the Youth Akali Dal (YAD) on Monday broke through police barricades to lay siege to the residence of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh demanding a criminal case against the former inspector general of police (IGP) for his alleged association with an accused in the ₹15-crore medical drug seizure case.

Punjab stop Youth Akali Dal workers during a protest outside Aam Aadmi Party leader Kunwar Vijay Pratap’s residence in Amritsar.

A former president of the district Congress committee, the accused, Rajiv Bhagat, joined the AAP two months ago. The protesters alleged that Bhagat was given the responsibility of overseeing Amritsar-West constituency at the behest of Kunwar Vijay.

The police detained some Akali workers for a while to disperse to crowd.

YAD leaders Gurpartap Singh Tikka and Jodh Singh Samra said, “The accused, Rajiv Bhagat, used the then IG’s official vehicle to transport drugs from one place to another. Chief minister Amarinder Singh must take action in the matter or it would be presumed that he is protecting the former IG as part of a pact with AAP,” they said.

Also, the Aam Aadmi Party volunteers led by leader of opposition in assembly Harpal Singh Cheema also held a protest at Congress MLA Raj Kumar Verka’s house in support of sanitation workers and sewermen for their regularisation. The protesters burnt an effigy of the Congress government.

Cheema said, “Thousands of unemployed people have been protesting against the government. Due to the protests of safai karamcharies, most of the cities are littered with garbage that can lead to the spread of diseases..”

On the SAD’s protest, Cheema said, “The party is trying to regain its lost ground by making fake allegations against the former cop whose services remained unquestionable.”

When contacted, Verka said, “The state government has already announced to regularise the safai karamcharies and we are giving appointment letters to 5,000 such workers on July 1.”