AMRITSAR, Sept 16 — In a communication to President and General Secretary of the BJP, Mr Subash Sharma, Mayor, Municipal Corporation, has described his expulsion from the party as “arbitrary, undemocratic and unconstitutional”.

Refusing to step down, Mr Sharma said he would continue to work like a “sepoy of the party” as he had been expelled before being given a chance to prove his “innocence”.

Even a judge gives a chance to plead one’s case before pronouncing a verdict”, he said. He said he would step down as Mayor if the party high command directed him to do so.

He said as per the party constitution, he should have been served show-cause notice and then a case could have been sent to the Disciplinary Action Committee (DAC) for consideration.

Mr Om Parkash Kalia, District President, BJP, today reiterated that Mr Sharma was innocent.

The Mayor said he was a victim of a deep-rooted conspiracy hatched by some politicians, including his own partymen. He indicated that the meeting scheduled for September 18 may be postponed for obvious reasons. He, however, claimed that he continued to enjoy the confidence of a majority of MCs.

Denying allegations of moral turpitude, Mr Sharma said the two-member fact-finding committee had filed its report without verifying facts from the police and hotel owners.

Mr Sarbjit Singh Raju, one of the partners of the hotel, was present at the press conference.

Meanwhile, Punjab BJP General Secretary Avinash Jaiswal today maintained that Amritsar Municipal Corporation Mayor Subash Sharma had been expelled from the party for six years on disciplinary grounds.

Talking to mediapersons here, he said the allegations of moral turpitude had not been proved by the two-member fact-finding team which was constituted by the BJP state high command and of which he was a member. It was on the basis of the allegations contained in the report submitted by the team that party leadership had verbally directed Mr Sharma to resign as Mayor, Mr Jaiswal claimed, while refusing to disclose the contents of the report.

RAMPURAPHUL (Bathinda), Sept 16 — Hundreds of migrant labourers along with a section of traders of the town staged a dharna and held a rally in front of the police station and gheraoed the Civil Hospital for about three hours following the alleged beating up of about 30 migrant labourers by the policemen late last night.

More than 100 migrant labourers were allegedly forced to leave the town and were sent back to their native places by the police party headed by a senior police official of the area.

Mr Jatinder Kumar Jain, SSP, when contacted, said SP, Kapil Dev had been asked to conduct a probe and strict action would be taken if any policeman was found guilty. He added that matter had been sorted out and situation was normal.

However, a section of policemen alleged that a section of traders, who was opposed a senior police official of the area, has instigated the migrant labourers to resort to agitation to get him transferred.

The victims alleged that yesterday when they were asleep, a police party came there and started beating them up without any reason. Policemen threatened them that if they did not go back to their native places in Bihar and other states, they would be killed.

They alleged that more than 100 migrant labourers were forcibly made to board a train for sending them back to their native places. They added that the police had been indulging in such illegal activities as they suspected their involvement in crime.

At about 11 a.m. about 500 persons, including the migrant labourers, came to the Civil Hospital here and raised slogans against the Punjab police for their alleged high-handedness, the Punjab Government and the Civil Hospital authorities.

Dr Shamsher Singh, Senior Medical Officer (SMO), Civil Hospital, told TNS that 30 migrant labourers (all adults) reported at the hospital with simple injuries. He added that after carrying out the medical examination of all those injured a medico legal report had been submitted to the police authorities for further action.

He added that migrant labourers and other traders, who assembled on the premises of the hospital, organised the gherao for about three hours. He added that, however, it did not hamper the smooth functioning of the hospital.