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Attack on Congress councillor in Amritsar: One held, five absconding
65-year-old Congress councillor Jeet Singh Bhatia was slapped by unidentified men at Golden Avenue locality on Friday
Police on Sunday arrested one of the six accused booked for assaulting 65-year-old Congress councillor, Jeet Singh Bhatia, at Golden Avenue locality here on Friday. However, five accused are still at large.
Bhatia, who is reportedly close to cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, was slapped near his residence on Friday and the video of the incident was also shared widely on social media platforms.
Additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP-City1) Jagjit Singh Walia said, “We have arrested one of the six accused, identified as Rajvir Singh of Mohkampura, and five others, including key accused Ajay Gill of Mohkampura, who is seen slapping the councillor in the video, are absconding. Raids are being conducted to arrest the absconders.”
The other four accused are Navraj Singh aka Harry of Tarn Taran road; Mohna Pehalwan and Kahno of Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar and Tidda of Majitha road.
As per Bhatia, around eight persons had came up to him to complain about contaminated water being supplied in Maqboolpura area. “While I was talking about the issue, two of them, who had their faces covered, slapped me asking when the issue will be resolved?” he said.
On Saturday, hundreds of Congress workers and shopkeepers under the banner of Wholesale Cloths Merchant Association had protested against the incident and shouted slogans against Punjab Police, demanding the arrest of the accused.
Talking to HT, Bhatia said, “If police fail to arrest the accused till Monday, we will launch an indefinite protest. It is clear that the accused were hired to assault me. Everything will be clear after they are arrested.”
Meanwhile, police sources said the attack could be politically motivated.
The accused were booked under Sections 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 379 (punishment for theft), 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 25-27-54-59 of the Arms Act at Maqboolpura police station.
