Sukhbir holds closed-door meet with Ranjit Singh Kuki, in Ludhiana
Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday held a meeting with former Punjab Agricultural University vice-chancellor Dr Khem Singh Gill and his son Ranjit Singh Kuki, who was charged with the murder of Congress leader Lalit Maken and his wife Geetanjali in 1985.
Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday held a meeting with former Punjab Agricultural University vice-chancellor Dr Khem Singh Gill and his son Ranjit Singh Kuki, who was charged with the murder of Congress leader Lalit Maken and his wife Geetanjali in 1985.
Sources did not divulge details of the 25-minute closed-door meeting at Dr Gill’s house here. Maken, then MP from South Delhi, was shot dead on July 31, 1985, when he was walking up to his car parked across a road from his house at Kirti Nagar in West Delhi. Later, Maken’s daughter Avantika had “pardoned” Ranjit Singh.
Before meeting Gill, Sukhbir also paid a surprise visit to transporter Gurdip Singh Jhujhar’s house in Green City on Ferozepur Road. Sources said Sukhbir stopped everyone on Ferozepur Road and just took his official car and a pilot vehicle to Jujhar’s house. Even Ludhiana police commissioner Paramraj Singh Umranangal, deputy commissioner Rajat Agarwal and deputy CM’s special secretary Rahul Tewari were also not allowed to accompany Sukhbir.
Sukhbir stayed with Jhujhar for almost 20 minutes before proceeding towards Dr Gill’s house. The deputy CM was here to attend prayers organised during the second death anniversary of SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar’s son Tejinderpal Singh Makkar.
Earlier, talking to mediapersons, Sukhbir asked the whitefly-hit cotton farmers to call off their protests, saying the state government had already given a ‘decent’ compensation to them for damage caused to their crop.
Sukhbir said Haryana was worst-hit by the whitefly attack followed by Rajasthan and Punjab. “The compensation, however, given to Punjab farmers is the highest among the three states as chief minister Parkash Singh Badal has always stood by the agricultural community,” claimed the deputy chief minister. Sukhbir said farmer organisations were playing petty politics over the whitefly issue and misleading the masses.