Never met Ajit Singh, will file defamation suit against Kunwar Vijay Pratap – Sukhbir  Badal

(Says allegation result of deep rooted frustration, Cong govt has used IG to strike out at me)

Chandigarh, April 19 – Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal today said he had never met Ajit Singh, a witness in the Kotkapura police firing case, and that he would file a defamation suit against IG Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh for falsely claiming that he had tried to lure the witness with the promise of a job in the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).

In a statement here, the SAD President said it was clear that IG Kunwar Vijay Pratap was obsessed with targeting the SAD and the Badal family and it was with this purpose that he had forwarded a malicious letter to the State DGP and make these wild allegations. “The IG knew from the proceedings of the Kotkapura firing case in the high court that his probe would be cast aside. The latest allegation is a result of this deep rooted frustration and aimed at politicizing a case after wasting three years pursuing the political agenda of the Congress party. “The IG tried to implicate the SAD and its senior leadership in the case at the instance of the Congress government but he was unsuccessful in this task. Now he taking the letter route to defame the senior SAD leadership. It is a clear case of gross misuse of his official position by the IG to please his political bosses rather than nailing the culprits in the case”.

Badal asserted that Ajit Singh had also set the record straight by asserting that he had not been approached by anyone for a job in the SGPC and that he had approached the Sikh institution for a job. “The witness has also submitted that even this request is pending and that he has not been offered any job by the SGPC”. He said despite such a clear cut rebuttal from the witness, the IG had prevailed upon a section of the media to publish this malafide report. “My lawyers are looking into the case to ascertain if there is a wider conspiracy to defame me because it is the duty of bonafide media to keep away from mischievous communications which have no basis and are made solely to pursue a vendetta against a public figure”.

Badal said the SAD had always stood for speedy investigation into all cases related to the heinous incidents of sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji. “I have gone on record to state that may nothing remain of not only those who committed the ghastly sacrileges but also those who were behind them or were playing politics on this sensitive issue. It is unfortunate that after failing to nail those responsible for the reprehensible acts, the Congress government is politicizing the issue by using Kunwar Vijay Pratap to strike out at me”.