Sexual exploitation charges on minister: SAD seeks probe against Punjab govt for 'intimidating victim
Darpan News Desk IANS, 13 Jun, 2023 11:29 AM
Chandigarh, June 13 (IANS) Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Tuesday urged Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit to order an inquiry against the Punjab government and others who had intimidated the victim who had accused Cabinet minister Lalchand Kataruchak of sexually exploiting him and forced him to retract his statement.
In a statement here, Majithia said while he had earlier requested the Governor and UT Administrator to order Chandigarh Police to register a case against Kataruchak, now it had become pertinent to probe the sequence of events whereby the victim was forced to withdraw his accusations against the minister.
"It seems Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's earlier statement that all SITs were 'besitte' (without any meaning) was true. It is now clear the SIT was formed to give a clean chit to the minister and that it also caused the victim to retract his allegations."
Urging the Governor to act to save values in civil society, Majithia said "it is shocking that a predator has been given a clean chit by the state. This puts civil society to risk."
Besides urging the Governor to take appropriate steps to ensure justice for the Dalit youth who had been sexually exploited on the promise of a job, he also urged all political parties to unite on this issue and boycott and protest against the minister.
Asserting that the Chief Minister's love for Kataruchak had come in the way of taking action against him, Majithia said it was condemnable that that the Chief Minister had not sacked Kataruchak despite specific advise to do so by the constitutional head of the state.
Majithia also condemned collapse of law and order in the state, asserting recent Rs 8 crore heist in Ludhiana, murder of a jeweller in Moga and dacoity in Amritsar proved the Chief Minister had totally failed as Home Minister.
Notorious gangster Lawrence Bishnoi was transferred from Sabarmati Jail in Gujarat to Delhi's Mandoli Prison in the early hours of Thursday. The decision to lodge Bishnoi to Mandoli jail was taken due to security concerns, a senior prison official said.
Speaking at annual meeting of the Kerala Police Association, Sethuraman said: "The use of drugs is prevalent among the children of police officials at all levels. Two children of a Superintendent of Police are victims of drug abuse and this affected his family life too. There has to be a serious check to prevent this rampant drug abuse, which is alarming."
To curb the menace of issuing SIM cards on fake identities, a major security threat, the Punjab Police have got blocked over 1.8 lakh SIM cards activated using fake identities and forged documents, Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said on Thursday. In one case 500 SIM cards have been issued with the same photograph but in different names by forging documents.
Pachauri had filed a contempt of court petition in February 2016, alleging several media houses for deliberately and contemptuously not following the court's orders restricting them from publishing sexual harassment claims against him. The affidavit further read that Goswami is a respectable citizen of the country, who abides by the law and holds all courts in high esteem.
Presiding over the meeting regarding the demands of the Sanyukta Kisan Morcha here, Dhaliwal said the new agricultural policy is being prepared with the aim of boosting the income of the farmers. Also, the government is making efforts to solve many problems of the farmers.
The accused identified as Yogesh alias Gogha, was previously involved in 16 criminal cases, including attempt to murder, robbery, dacoity,criminal intimidation and the Arms Act, registered in Delhi and its peripherals.
