Seven months on, SIT yet to begin investigation in Shahkot MLA Hardev Laddi Sherowalia case

Deepkamal Kaur

Jalandhar, December 20

Seven months since the Jalandhar (Rural) police have lodged an FIR against Congress Shahkot MLA Hardev Laddi Sherowalia for gheraoing Baba Bakala AAP MLA Dalbir Tong on the day of the Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll, a Special Investigative Team (SIT) formed to probe the case is yet to ascertain the facts.

Laddi had gone live on Facebook, alleging that “outsider” MLA Tong was illegally roaming around in the Jalandhar area on the polling day on May 10. But the police had instead booked Laddi and 12 others under Sections 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 186 (obstructing a public servant in the discharge of public functions), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 148 (whoever is guilty of rioting, being armed with a deadly weapon) of the IPC.

Jalandhar bypoll incident

• The police had lodged an FIR against Congress Shahkot MLA Hardev Laddi Sherowalia for gheraoing Baba Bakala AAP MLA Dalbir Tong on the day of the Jalandhar Lok Sabha byelection
• Laddi had gone live on Facebook, alleging that “outsider” MLA Tong was illegally roaming around in the Jalandhar area on the polling day on May 10
• But the police had instead booked Laddi and 12 others

Since Section 353 is a non-bailable offence, all senior Congress leaders, including PPCC chief Amarinder S Raja Warring, LoP Partap Bajwa and others, had gathered outside the SSP, Jalandhar Rural, Mukhwinder Bhullar’s office to lodge the protest. Then DIG, Jalandhar Range, Swapan Sharma, had announced that a SIT had been constituted under then SSP, Hoshiarpur, Sartaj Chahal to probe the matter.

Laddi said the SIT had not called him even once to probe the matter. “The FIR against me stands as it is and I have got no communication since then. I and my team are ready to face any consequences. But the reality is that the police understand that they have been caught on a wrong foot and have nothing to probe against me. Tong’’s car driver Gagandeep Singh, who was the complainant in the case, was not a government employee but his private driver. The car, which we had gheraoed, too was a private vehicle. Sections 186 and 353 of the IPC could not be imposed on the complaint of a non-government employee. The FIR was probably lodged under pressure from the top”, he said.

SSP Bhullar said he was not aware of the status of the SIT probe. “I am not sure if anything has come to me yet”, he said. Swapan Sharma, who recently left the DIG’s charge and got promoted as the Jalandhar Police Commissioner, too, said he was not aware of the probe carried out by the SIT.