Courtesy: The Statesman The Citizens For Democracy has come down heavily on Mr. Jagir Singh, Punjab Minister of State for Panchayats and Revenue, and Punjab Police, for allegedly letting loose reign of terror in the Khadoor Sahib Assembly constituency in the Amritsar district.
A three member team comprising N.D. Pancholi, G.S. Chadha and N. Rangela visited the village on June 18 and 19 this year to prove the charges of land grab against the Minister, and found most of the allegations to be true. ‘The report was released by Mr. V. M. Tarkunde, Adviser, CFD, to reporters in the Capital recently.
‘The report reveals that the concerned Minister was attempting to deprive the management committee of Guru Angad Dey College of 15 acres land. The said land is at present being used as a playground by the students of the College and an adjoining school. The Minister is trying to grab the land on the pretext of setting up a stadium therein, the report adds.
Baba Sewa Singh, head of the village Dera told the team that the land for the college had been donated by the then panchayat of the village to the late Baba Uttam Singh, founder of the village, 25 years ago for building a degree College in the village. At present, the college has around 600 students.
According to the report, the management committee has alleged that Mr. Jagir Singh duped some original land donors into signing sale deeds for the transfer of the said land to some close friends of the Minister. The fact-finding team claims to have met at least 10 such donors who admitted they had been. Tricked into signing some documents at the behest of the Minister,
‘Then the management committee approached the civil court and an ad interim injunction was granted restraining the Minister, his son and others from interfering in the possession of the college land, the report revealed, However, ignoring the injunction order, the Minister’s son, Mr, Pratap Singh, forcibly attempted to occupy it, and was charged for contempt of court by the Tam ‘Taran civil court in mid1993, but has not appeared before the court till date despite warrants issued against him, the report adds.
‘The report has also accused the Minister of torturing Baba Sewa Singh with the help of local polite for having approached the court. It States that some police officials, including senior ones, inflicted severe torture on Baba Sewa Singh, resulting in the fracture of his legs and hip joints, ‘The report has recommended that the Minister be removed immediately so that an impartial inquiry can be ordered. It has also called for the setting up of grievance Redressal cells throughout the State where complaints against Police can be registered Talking to reporters, Kuldip Nayar, president, CFD, said there was no nile of law in Punjab and it was in need of a humane admit is traction. He urged the Government of Punjab to restrict its activities within the parameters of the law.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 18, 1994
