Days after a scheduled caste (SC) man alleged sexual assault by Lal Chand Kataruchak, a Cabinet minister, and the National Scheduled Caste Commission issued a notice in the matter, the Punjab government on Monday formed a three-member special investigation team (SIT) to probe the matter.
As per the order by the director of the Bureau of Investigations on Monday, the SIT will be headed by DIG (border range, Amritsar) Narinder Bhargav and would render complete assistance to the Commission in its investigation into the matter. Bhargav will also provide security to the complainant against the minister.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Friday urged Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit to immediately dismiss Kataruchak and direct police to take action as the person sexually assaulted by him has already come forward and has filed a criminal complaint with National Scheduled Caste Commission regarding his exploitation done by Kataruchak.
In a statement on Monday, 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 called it 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 law of the land.
Lashing out at Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Sirsa said 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 Mann should be ashamed of himself for defending a person who is accused of sexually exploiting a minor boy.
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.
Meanwhile, the state government has also sent an interim reply to the Commission which on Friday sought an action-taken report in the matter after the victim, a Pathankot resident, claimed in a video that Kataruchak had forced him into a relationship in 2013-14 after promising a government job.