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Punjab elections: Lok Insaaf Party chief Simarjit Bains arrested after group clash
Arrest follows complaint of rival Congress candidate Kamaljit Singh Karwal that Bains’ supporters attacked and intimidated his party workers
Lok Insaaf Party chief and Atam Nagar assembly constituency MLA Simarjit Singh Bains was arrested from the Ludhiana district courts complex amid high drama on Tuesday afternoon.
Also read: Rape case: SC extends for a week protection from arrest to Punjab MLA Bains
Police sealed the court building before Bains was taken into custody for his involvement in a group clash on Monday in which three supporters of Atam Nagar Congress candidate Kamaljit Singh Karwal were injured.
Karwal’s supporters alleged that shots were fired in the air to intimidate them and their vehicles were vandalised, while the Congress leader said the intent was to disrupt his public meeting.
Though Bains refuted the charges, panic gripped Ludhiana’s Daba Road on Monday evening following the clash between supporters of the two candidates.
Bains is already booked in 15 cases, including rape, violating Covid protocol, robbery, criminal intimidation, restoring power connections, defamation, disobeying public servant’s order and assaulting public servant. Last Thursday, the Supreme Court had directed Punjab Police not to arrest Bains in the rape case for a week.
Karwal said that five vehicles, including his car, were vandalised on Monday evening. He said he was holding a meeting with his supporters at his office on Daba Road when Bains, his son and more than 150 supporters turned up at the spot, armed with lathis and iron rods.
The Congress leader said that when his supporters objected to the vandalism, Bains’ men assaulted them and opened fire in the air while fleeing.
Heavy police deployment was made in the area after the incident.
Karwal said that Bains knows he is going to lose this time so he is attacking Congress supporters in frustration.
Bains, on the other hand, said that his supporters were not involved in any attack. “The Congress candidate is making baseless allegations to defame me as he knows he cannot defeat me,” he claimed.
Additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP, City 2) Balwinder Singh Randhawa said appropriate action will be taken after recording statements of both groups.
On January 20, Bains and Karwal’s supporters were involved in a clash on Gill Road over the installation of hoardings. But no FIR had been registered in that matter.
