SAD leaders including Majithia, Tinu, out-smart police; detained

In a high-voltage drama (1)

Jaswant Singh Gandam / Raman Nehra
India Post News Service

PHAGWARA: In a high-voltage drama, SAD leaders today out-smarted police when former Punjab minister and Youth Akali Dal stalwart Bikram Singh Majithia,MLA Pawan Tinu and Isatri Akali Dal chief Bibi Jagir Kaur dodged police and reached near residence of local congress MLA Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal.

Majithia,Tinu and about 40 others had to be detained by police. While Majithia was taken in a police vehicle to Sadar police station, Tinu and others were taken in a bus. They dodged police, which stood, on the route on which SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal was coming perched atop a vehicle with purported attention of reaching the MLA’s residence for gheraoing it.Bibi Jagir Kaur was by his side.

A large number of police, including lady and anti-riot police, was deployed to prevent them from proceeding. However, Majithia played smart and took a side route with his supporters and, breaking three police ‘nakas’ and security cordon, he and his supporters succeeded in reaching near the residence.

They virtually covered one km from the site of rally’s pandal and managed to reach just 50-meters away from Dhaliwal’s residence. It took some time for police to understand what had happened. Since most of the police was deployed to stop Badal from proceeding to MLA’s residence, Majithia and his supporters managed to reach near the residence, having scuffles with police.

When more police reached there and prevented him from going to the residence, he and his supporters squatted dharna near Dhaliwal’s residence. Police was on tenterhooks when it all happened.

Bibi Jagir Kaur, coming down from Badal’s vehicle, also ran towards MLA’s residence along with her supporters. She broke police cordon thrice.  When she was eventually stopped, she and her supporters squatted in dharna on Phagwara-Chandigarh bypass. Pawan Tinu, on being stopped, also squatted in dharna.

Police succeeded in prevailing upon Badal not to proceed to MLA residence.When Majithia,Tinu and others did not relent, they were detained but released later. Phagwara SP Manwinder Singh and police had a tough time and virtually failed from containing Akalis who had assembled in a large number for gheraoing the residence of MLA Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal.

They accused him of having been hand in glove with Punjab minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot in Rs 64 crore Post Matric Scholarship scheme scam for SC students when he was Director of the department.

Party Chief Badal joined the rally and dharna of workers against the MLA. Various speakers, including SC Wing chief Gulzar Singh Ranike and former minister Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra demanded CBI probe into scam, declaring Dharamsot and Dhaliwal will be put behind bars, the bungled amount recovered from them and deposited in the accounts of SC beneficiaries when Akalis came to power.

Chandumajra created a flutter by asserting that Akali Dal will have to make a dalit Deputy CM by the future CM Sukhbir Badal on coming to power.