Candidate’s husband held, SAD cries foul

Our Correspondent

Tarn Taran, December 26

Terror gripped Kot Dharam Chand Kalan village, 12 km from here, when the Chabal police arrested Sona Singh, the husband of Paramjit Kaur, who is contesting the rural body elections as a member of the village panchayat. She is believed to be close to the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). Meanwhile, Sona Singh was arrested from the village on Tuesday.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Sucha Singh said Sona Singh has been booked under Sections 107 and 151 of the CrPC as a preventive measures for maintaining law and order in the village.

Paramjit Kaur, the SAD candidate and her supporters, Sukhwinder Singh Sonu and Gurpreet Singh, said today that the police had been raiding their house for the last four days to force them to withdraw from the election in favour of the Congress candidate.

Paramjit Kaur alleged that the police was terrorising them and said her fear was that the polling process too would be affected by the administration under pressure from the government.

The villagers lodged a strong protest today. Rajbir Singh Sandhu, brother of former SAD MLA, Harmeet Singh Sandhu, called upon the party workers to face the aggression of the Congress. Sona Singh was later released on bail.

Meanwhile, the Narbhinder State Organization Zamhoori Adhikar Sabha, in a press statement issued here, alleged that the ruling party was seeking to influence the election process. The organisation has sent a letter to the State Election Commission to ensure free and fair polling in the state by keeping a close watch on the process.