Spat with DC: MLA dubs case against him CM's 'political vendetta'

Booked on charges of obstructing government officials from discharging their duties after his spat with one of them last week, independent legislator Simarjeet Singh Bains on Tuesday accused Chief Minister of Amarinder Singh of unleashing a "political vendetta" against him.

Lok Insaaf party (LIP) chief Bains said Chief Minister Singh is behind the criminal case lodged against him because he had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court challenging the ACB's closure report in the Ludhiana City Centre scandal, allegedly involving Singh and his family members.

Bains was booked on Sunday by Punjab police for allegedly berating Gurdaspur Deputy Commissioner Vipul Ujjwal publicly at the civil hospital on the issue of identity of a Batala blast victim's body, with a video of the incident having gone viral.

In the video, legislator Bains was seen shouting at DC Ujwal even as the officer tried to clear some confusion over the identity of a blast victim's body.

"The case against me has been filed not on the complaint of the DC or SDM, but at the behest of Amarinder Singh as I have challenged the Vigilance Bureau's closure report in the Ludhiana City Centre scandal in the high court," said Atam Nagar MLA Bains.

"It's a political vendetta. They want to suppress my voice. I am not afraid of the CM. It's a false case. I am not afraid of going to jail. Let them frame me in 100 cases, but I will take the City Centre Scandal to its logical conclusion. I will move even the Supreme Court," he said.

Seeking to clarify his position, Bains said he never used abusive language against the Gurdaspur deputy commissioner. Ujjwal, instead asked me why I entered his room."