Akali sarpanch beaten to death

In a suspected case of 'political murder', an Akali sarpanch has been beaten to death allegedly by a group of Congress workers in Cheath Kalan village of Attari Assembly constituency, police said today.
An FIR has been registered against four persons, Chattiwind SHO, Amarjit Singh said.
According to police, the victim, Gurpinder Singh Laali engaged in a verbal duel with the suspects last evening which later turned into a scuffle.
Laali fainted during the clash and was rushed to a hospital where he died, Singh said.
Efforts are on to trace the suspects, he said.
Meanwhile, former Punjab deputy chief minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today condemned the killing of the Akali sarpanch.

He said in a statement issued in Chandigarh that the death of Laali was the result of the vendetta unleashed by the Congress-led state government on Akali workers.

"If the local police had swung into action, a young life could have been saved," he said.
Badal further alleged that the Congress cadre had been given a free hand to indulge in such vendetta against Akalis even as the government espoused innocence on the issue.
Stating that the SAD "would not sit back and let the Congress workers indulge in 'goonda raj'", the Akali leader asked the party district presidents to hold dharnas and protests against such instances.

He added that the party would help the victims of such vendetta by taking up their cases in court.