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.
On January 31, the victim received another call from a man claiming to be from the Customs Department at the Mumbai airport. The caller further contended that to issue a yellow card to Jordan Rs 55,000 was required and the amount was transferred by the victim to a man, Robert Kang's account.
According to the charge sheet, after killing Shraddha on May 18 last year, Poonawalla locked their rented accommodation at south Delhi's Chattarpur Pahari area at about 7.45 p.m and went to a nearby hardware shop where he bought a saw, three blades, a hammer and plastic clip.
Interacting with industrialists during a session organised here, the Chief Minister said Punjabis are known world over for their hard work and entrepreneurship skill. Mann said it is the need of hour to make the state an industrial hub of the country.
Besides, five persons have been arrested and six prosecution complaints (PCs) including one supplementary PC have been filed before the Special Court, PMLA in these cases, he stsated.
A spokesperson for the Vigilance Bureau said following investigations of an enquiry a case under the Prevention of the Corruption Act has been registered against Dharamsot. Giving details, he said from March 1, 2016, to March 31, 2022, the income of the former minister and his family was Rs 2,37,12,596 while the expenditure was Rs 8,76,30,888.
The RBI has a Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC) database system where the banks report their exposure of Rs 5 crore and above which is used for monitoring purposes.
