Kamal Sharma beats a hasty retreat

Moga: State BJP president Kamal Sharma visited the district hospital at Moga on Sunday evening to meet the injured woman, but the people sitting on a protest gheraoed him. They raised slogans against him and reportedly tried to manhandle him. They had heated exchange of words with him. Sharma was eventually forced to leave the hospital premises from the backdoor. A number of policemen escorted him to a safer place. He was the only senior most leader from the SAD-BJP government who had come to meet the victim family. Earlier, local MLA Joginder Pal Jain met the injured mother of the deceased girl on Saturday. He too had to face the ire of the protesting family members who forced him to leave immediately.

Prashant Bhushan slams govt

Ludhiana: Prashant Bhushan, leader of the Swaraj Abhiyan, alleged there was no hope of justice from the Punjab government for the family of Moga molestation victim. He was in the city to participate in a protest rally against the incident. Bhushan alleged the SAD-led state government was corrupt and it failed on all fronts, including the safety of woman and governance. He alleged it was a government of criminals and running drug trade in the state and backing mining mafia, criminals and land grabbers.

Phoolka writes to President 

HS Phoolka, senior advocate, has written a letter to the President on the alleged breakdown of the government machinery in Punjab. In the letter, Phoolka alleged, “Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini has openly stated in a section of the media that the questioning of the owners of Orbit Aviation, including Sukhbir Singh Badal, is not required. In two recent cases of the Nirbhaya murder and Uber taxi in Delhi, the owners of the transport companies were held to be equally responsible for the crime. But in the present case, the Punjab Police is working only to protect Sukhbir and his family.. Why so?”

Left to protest from May 6

The four Left parties in Punjab- CPI, CPI (M), CPM (Punjab) and CPI (ML) Liberation, will stage a series of protests on May 6 against the Moga incident. The parties took the decision at a meeting in Jalandhar. They have demanded that the case must be tried in a fast-track court. They also sought a criminal case against the owners of the Orbit Aviation. They said Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal, also the Punjab Home Minister, was "responsible for the deteriorating law and order in Punjab, therefore, he must resign".

Shah's silence unfortunate: Jakhar

Abohar: Congress Legislature Party Leader Sunil Jakhar today said BJP president Amit Shah did not bother to say a single word about the Moga incident during his Punjab visit. He said: "At a time, when the state is witnessing strong protests following the death of a minor girl in Moga district, Shah thought it fit only to boost the morale of party cadre". He alleged the silence maintained by national leaders of the saffron party indicated that the BJP was anti-Dalit, anti-poor and mustered power to upkeep interests of the mighty businessmen in different sectors. He said even after four days of the death of the 13-year-old girl following alleged molestation in a moving bus, neither Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal nor his deputy Sukhbir Badal had visited the affected family.