Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Friday urged Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit to immediately dismiss Cabinet Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak and also direct the police to take action against the culprit as per law as the person sexually assaulted by him has already come forward and has filed a criminal complaint with the National Scheduled Caste Commission regarding his exploitation done by Kataruchak.
In a statement, Sirsa said the person sexually assaulted by Kataruchak has given his statement to the National SC Commission explaining how he was being sexually exploited by Kataruchak since 2013-14 when he was a minor.
He said this was a serious offence and apart from dismissing the minister, the Governor should ask the Director General of Police Punjab to arrest him and take action as per the law of the land.
Lashing out at Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Sirsa said that it was shocking that even after learning about videos of exploitation being submitted to the Punjab Governor, he kept on defending the accused and denied having any such video.
The BJP leader said that Mann should be ashamed of himself for defending a person who is accused of sexually exploiting a minor boy. He said now when the victim has come forward and filed his complaint with the National SC Commission, which has directed the Chief Secretary and the DGP of the state to ensure protection of the victim and take action against the culprit, the CM should himself recommend dismissal of the minister besides ordering arrest of the accused.
Without naming anyone, the Opposition Congress had earlier accused a minister in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of “sexual misconduct” on the basis of “video clips” and demanded his ouster even as the CM on Tuesday termed the allegation ‘baseless’.
Without naming anyone, Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira on Sunday claimed to have submitted “highly objectionable video clips of gross misconduct by an AAP minister” to Punjab Governor.
Following this, BJP leader Sirsa claimed “the minister has tendered his resignation….”. The CM, however, claimed he did not receive any resignation or video.
The CM said the allegations showed the Opposition was not getting any issues ahead of the Lok Sabha bypoll in Jalandhar. An MLA from Bhoa in Pathankot, Kataruchak has also rejected Khaira’s allegations saying Khaira’s main job is to remain in the media by creating sensationalism and taking political mileage out of it.