The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Sunday demanded an inquiry by a central agency or a sitting judge of the high court into the Rs 1,000 crore extortion racket being run by gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpur and his associates under the patronage of Jails minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.
SAD leaders Bikram Singh Majithia and Dr Daljit Singh Cheema while addressing a press conference here, also demanded that Randhawa should be booked and arrested for extending patronage to Congressmen who brutally murdered former Akali Sarpanch Dalbir Dhilwan.
Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp
"A central enquiry by the CBI or National Investigation Agency (NIA) or even that by a sitting judge of the high court could alone expose the Minister - Gangster - Police role in the gruesome murder of Dalbir as well as the role of Jaggu Bhagwanpur in extortions and contract killings as well as forcible control over Kabaddi players and tournaments," SAD leaders said.
They added: "It was seven days since Dalbir Dhilwan was murdered but his killers were still at large. This is all because of the influence of Sukhjinder Randhawa who is giving shelter to the killers. If the police are serious about arresting the assailants it should search the residence of the minister as well as his close associates."
Majithia also provided documentary evidence to link Jaggu Bhagwanpur with the Jails minister. He showed how Jaggu and his brother Manu were close associates of Randhawa's close associate Babbu Sukharaju.
He said: "Sukharaju's nephews Kawal and Manjot were running a Kabaddi Club in Newzealand which controlled Kabaddi players as well as tournaments abroad."
"Kawal and Manjot even targeted their rivals in India through contract killers as had happened in June this year when they fired shots at the house of a rival Kabaddi organizer Gurvinder Bains when he had come visiting his home in Hoshiarpur from Newzealand," he added.
More From This Section
The Akali leaders said despite this mountain of evidence linking the gangsters with the Minister and clear statement of Dalbir Dhilwan's son Sandeep that his father's death was a political murder; the Batala police was not taking any action in the case.
"SSP Opinderjit Ghuman had refused to meet Dalbir's daughter and was not registering the complaint of Dalbir's son Sandeep that his father's killers had the direct patronage of Sukhjinder Randhawa," the leaders added.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content