The Shiromani Akali Dal accused the Aam Aadmi Party’s first -time legislator from Khadoor Sahib assembly constituency, Manjinder Singh Lalpura, and his brother-in-law, Nishan Singh, of being involved in large scale-illegal mining in Tarn Taran, on Friday. This comes three days after the police arrested the AAP’s Khadoor Sahib MLA Manjinder Singh Lalpura’s brother-in-law for allegedly running a sand-mining nexus.
Lalpura, however, alleged that his brother-in-law was implicated in a false case in a conspiracy as he had raised the issue of corruption in Tarn Taran Police a fortnight ago. Following the controversy, the state government, on Thursday, shifted the Tarn Taran senior superintendent of police (SSP) Gurmeet Singh Chauhan and suspended five police officers involved in the Tuesday night raid, in which 10 people were arrested.
Addressing a news conference on Friday, SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia said his party would approach Punjab and Haryana high court to get this matter probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation. He also condemned the transfer of “upright officers in lieu of protection given to mining mafia and gangsters” in the state by the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government.
Majithia alleged Nishan Singh and his team start their illegal mining at night, which continues until early in the morning. He said the MLA, Lalpura, himself leads a caravan of machines and vehicles being used for illegal mining, in which the last vehicle in the caravan is the security vehicle of the MLA.
Displaying videos and photos of their indulgence in illegal mining, the SAD leader alleged that Nishan Singh was the owner of such mining machinery, including Poclain machines, JCBs, tractor trolleys, etc.
Lashing out at Bhagwant Mann, Majithia said the CM stood with the mining mafia, corrupt people, and gangsters. He also alleged that money generated from these illegal works, including illegal mining, was being used by the AAP in elections in other states, including Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, etc. He also raised questions as to who was funding high-profile weddings of AAP leaders.
The Akali Dal leader said all the police force at Tarn Taran hailed officer Gurmeet Singh Chauhan when he left Tarn Taran. He said the officer had taken gangs of Landa and Rinda head on, and due his courage, the DGP, Gaurav Yadav, was forced to enhance his security.