Former Punjab Transport Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar was arrested on Monday in connection with the death by suicide of a Punjab Warehousing Corporation official who had accused the Aam Aadmi Party legislator of harassment, ANI quoted the chief minister’s office as saying.
Gagandeep Singh Randhawa, a district manager of the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation in Amritsar, died by suicide at his home on Friday, leaving behind a video in which he purportedly said he was acting out of fear of Bhullar.
In the 12-second recording, the official had stated: “Your friend has consumed poison due to fear of minister Laljit Bhullar; I won’t survive now.”
Bhullar had resigned from his post on Saturday and a first information report was filed in the matter the same night, naming the legislator, his father Sukhdev Singh Bhullar and personal assistant Dilbag Singh, PTI reported.
The three men face Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita charges pertaining to abetment of suicide, criminal intimidation and common intention.
According to the complaint filed by Randhawa’s wife, the three men had pressured her husband to approve tenders for warehouses in the name of the former minister’s father, warning of dire consequences against her family, The Tribune reported.
The complaint further alleged that Randhawa was on March 13 called to Bhullar's home, where he was allegedly humiliated, assaulted and forced to record a confession stating that he had accepted a Rs 10 lakh bribe.
The video was meant to blackmail the official into complying with the tendering process, other relatives had previously alleged.
Earlier on Monday, Randhawa’s family had issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the state government to arrest the former minister, PTI reported.
The family had also refused to allow a post-mortem examination and cremation until Bhullar was arrested.
Ahead of being taken into custody, Bhullar claimed on social media that he was surrendering voluntarily.
“I have full faith in the law of the country, and also have unshakable faith in the justice system,” he said. “Believing in truth and justice, I myself am surrendering at Mandi Gobindgarh.”
Following the arrest, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said that anyone who violates the law in the state will face “strict action”, irrespective of “what position they hold or whether they are my relative or someone influential”.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday asked all MPs from Punjab to formally write to him about Randhawa’s death, stating that he is willing to transfer the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation, The Indian Express reported.
Shah was responding to Congress MP Gurjit Singh Aujla, who raised the matter in Lok Sabha.
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