Abohar incident not a result of gang war: Sampla

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, December 15

Contrary to the statements of police officials that the Abohar incident was a result of a gang war between two groups, Union Minister Vijay Sampla said the incident in which limbs of two persons were chopped off was in no way related to a gang war.

Sampla was here to meet Gurjant Singh who had survived the attack. Gurjant is undergoing treatment at a private hospital here. Earlier, the police officials had claimed that the incident was the result of a gang war between the two groups.

“The victim (Bhim Sen, who died) was earlier working with the accused and recently he had started his own dhaba. So there is no question of the incident being a result of any gang war,” he said. He added that relevant sections of Scheduled Caste (Prevention of Atrocities) Act had been included in the FIR.

Answering a question whether the incident was related to atrocities on Dalits, Sampla said, “The injured Gurjant Singh is a Jat, but Bhim was a Dalit. Even the other group has members from the same caste. So it is not directly a caste conflict but such an atrocious incident has occurred for the first time in the state and the government would take strict action.”

He said no matter how influential the accused were, strict action would be taken. However, he absolved the state government of any role or association with the accused. “Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has already clarified that the accused have no association with their party,” he commented.

He said names of the main accused, Shiv Lal Doda and his nephew, Amit Doda, which were earlier missing from the FIR have also been included today.

Yesterday, the doctors had to perform three reconstructive surgeries on Gurjant Singh to join his hand. Dr Avtar Singh at the hospital said the blood pressure of the patient was dismal because a lot of blood had drained out due to the injuries. He said the condition of the patient was stable today.