SAD says high court order exposes unholy nexus of Cong and AAP to defame SAD
(Demands Kunwar Vijay Pratap be charge sheeted, a criminal case be registered against him followed by his arrest)
(Says speedy probe needed into three cases of sacrilege, says four years wasted because Cong govt interested in emotionally exploiting the incidents rather than nailing the culprits)
Chandigarh, April 24 – The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today said the politically motivated, malicious and vendetta driven inquiry launched by chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh in league with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in cases of sacrilege as well as associated police firing cases had proved the Congress government and its collaborators were not interested in nailing the real culprits behind these heinous acts and was only playing politics on this most sensitive issue.
Addressing a press conference here, senior SAD leaders Maheshinder Singh Grewal and Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said the recent high court verdict in the Kotkapura firing case had exposed the unholy nexus between the Congress and AAP to defame the SAD as well as Sikh institutions. “Since the chief minister led the exercise by holding meetings to execute the Congress and AAP’s political agenda along with leaders like PPCC President Sunil Jakhar, Navjot Sidhu and Sukhjinder Randhawa he does not have any moral right to continue in office and should resign forthwith. The leaders asserted that Kejriwal was also hand in glove with the Congress in promoting and defending former tainted police officer Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh who was charged with executing the conspiracy.
The leaders said since a direct criminal conspiracy had been proved following the high court verdict, tainted former IG Kunwar Vijay Pratap should be charge sheeted and a criminal case should be registered against him and he should be arrested and punished for his misdeeds.
Both Mr Grewal and Dr Cheema also demanded a speedy probe into the three gruesome incidents of sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Maharaj of 2015 by filing of challans in the cases, saying four years have been wasted with the Congress government content in emotionally exploiting the incidents rather than nailing the culprits behind them. “The SAD stand remains the same. Let nothing remain of those who indulged in their heinous crimes or those who supported them and even those who are playing politics on the issue of sacrilege”.
The SAD leaders said though the Congress and AAP conspiracy against the SAD had succeeded in the short run with the SAD losing the 2017 assembly elections, but the high court verdict had exposed the duo’s intentions to implicate the SAD in the case.
Giving details, Dr Daljit Cheema said the high court had made it clear that Kunwar Vijay Pratap had conducted an investigation which smacked of malice, irrationality and absurdity and that the former officer had invoked a dangerous mixture of religion, politics and police administration. He said the court had made it clear that the former IG had a tendency to misuse his official position and over awe the judicial process as he did by writing a letter to the session’s court on the administrative side to accuse the CJM of having close proximity with S Parkash Singh Badal without any proof. He said the court also noted that Kunwar Vijay also indulged in political theatrics to fulfill his own political purpose of creating post-retirement greener pastures for himself so that he could enter the political field.
Stating that Kunwar Vijay had vitiated the entire inquiry by manipulating statements of witnesses to suit his illegal designs and recording selective statements of witnesses, Dr Cheema said the former IG had gone to the extent of running the investigation himself after other members of SIT disassociated themselves with his findings. “This amounts to formation of Specific Investigation Team (SIT) led by Kunwar Vijay who wanted to satisfy his political masters”, Maheshinder Grewal asserted
