14 booked for intimidating voters during Tarn Taran byelection

The district police have registered six cases against 14 individuals, mostly Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) workers, on charges of intimidating, threatening and misleading voters during the Tarn Taran by-election held yesterday.

According to police sources, the accused include several Akali workers, notably Kanchanpreet Kaur, daughter of SAD candidate Sukhwinder Kaur of Mianpur, and gangster Amritpal Singh Bath, a resident of Mianpur, who is currently living abroad.

The Chabal police booked Amritpal Singh Bath and his two associates for allegedly threatening Gurmeet Kaur, a housemaid from Padhari Kalan, to vote for the Akali Dal, warning her of dire consequences if she did not comply. Another case has been registered against Bath for intimidating Gurlal Singh, the husband of the sarpanch of Jhamka Kalan, and pressurising him to vote for the Akali Dal candidate.

Inspector Navneet Kaur, SHO of Jhabal police station, stated that a case has been registered against the accused under Sections 174, 351(2) and 351(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

In a separate incident, the Chabal police registered cases against Gursewak Singh, a resident of Padhari Kalan, and two others for spreading fear among voters by brandishing weapons. Besides them, the police also booked a person, who was accompanying them in a car. They were booked for creating disturbance during polling. One of them was arrested. The Tarn Taran police recovered a country-made pistol and two live cartridges from their vehicle.

Additionally, Akali worker Raj Kumar Neeta was arrested by the same police station for allegedly misleading voters during polling. He was later released on bail.

Meanwhile, the Sarai Amanat Khan police registered a case against Akali Dal candidate Kanchanpreet Kaur and Karan Gill of Mianpur following a complaint by the nodal officer of web control room. The due allegedly shared restricted information related to polling activities on Instagram during the election.