The Fazilka police have announced the arrest of two more accused in the Abohar farmhouse murder case and politicians have made a beeline for the affected family’s door.
Sandeep of Same Wali village in Muktsar district and Pardeep Kumar of Abohar were caught as accused on Sunday night. Ferozepur deputy inspector general (DIG) Amar Singh Chahal, who leads the special investigation team (SIT), said a local court had remanded them in police custody till Thursday. So far, 13 accused are under arrest and a hunt for more is on.
Even 10 days since Dalit man Bhim Sain (27) was butchered at the farmhouse of liqour baron Akali leader Shiv Lal Doda, the procession of politicians to his house has continued. The Akalis, except Muktsar leader Diyal Singh Koliyawali, have stayed away. Punjab has most Scheduled Caste voters and with the assembly elections just about a year away, the Abohar case has given the opposition a good handle to get them on its side.
Read: Things you should know about Akali leader Shiv Lal Doda
Abohar’s Congress legislator Sunil Jakhar, who in the last assembly elections defeated Shiv Lal Doda, one of the accused in the Bhim murder case, has led from the front since the day of the crime and taken the matter to the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha through the party high-command. Aam Aadmi Party’s Punjab convenor Sucha Singh Chottepur and Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann; Hardev Singh Arshi of the Communist Party of India (CPI), Bharatiya Janata Party’s Union minister for state for social justice and empowerment Vijay Sampla; and state BJP president Kamal Sharma have visited the victim’s family.
On Monday, another Congress team of sitting and former legislators was at Bhim’s house in Abohar and, later, holding a march against the state government, demanding that the case be moved to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and monitored by a sitting judge of the Punjab and Haryana high court. MLAs Sunil Jakhar, Ajaib Singh Bhatti, Harchand Kaur, Karan Brar, and Mohammad Sadiq; and former MLAs Hans Raj Jossan, Mohinder Rinwa, and Nathu Ram were part of this agitation.
{{/usCountry}}On Monday, another Congress team of sitting and former legislators was at Bhim’s house in Abohar and, later, holding a march against the state government, demanding that the case be moved to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and monitored by a sitting judge of the Punjab and Haryana high court. MLAs Sunil Jakhar, Ajaib Singh Bhatti, Harchand Kaur, Karan Brar, and Mohammad Sadiq; and former MLAs Hans Raj Jossan, Mohinder Rinwa, and Nathu Ram were part of this agitation.
{{/usCountry}}“It’s ironic that even after so many days of the murder of a Dailt, police have failed to record the statement of his family. What can we expect from Punjab Police under this scenario?” said Jakhar.
Read: Amit Doda surrenders before Fazilka police