SAD leader Virsa Singh Valtoha demands arrest of dera functionary

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 1
Senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Virsa Singh Valtoha today demanded that a functionary of Sirsa Dera be arrested for his alleged role in the 2017 Maur bomb blast which claimed seven lives, even as he lambasted the Punjab Police for not questioning him on the issue.
Addressing a press conference here, he said, “There are reports that one of the prime accused in the blast case was known to this person.”
Valtoha said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had given VIP status to him after arresting him in February this year in sacrilege cases and the police never questioned him about his role in the Maur case. “The manner in which he has now built a castle of lies to defame the SAD as well as its president Sukhbir Singh Badal makes the quid pro quo very clear,” he said.
Valtoha also pointed out how even veteran Akali leader Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, who was accused by him of having participated in writing a letter on behalf of the controversial Sirsa Dera chief, had also denied the incident. “We have now come out with the SAD president’s ‘event schedule’ to prove that he was lying that Sukhbir Badal had met the Dera head on a particular day.”
The SAD leader also flayed expelled SAD leaders including Gurpartap Singh Wadala for giving credence to his utterances despite knowing that the latter was a prime accused in the 2015 sacrilege incidents.