Dalit atrocity witness attacked in Tarn Taran

Tarn Taran, April 8

Jagjit Singh — a witness to the Usman episode in which a Dalit girl was beaten up by the local city police three years ago — was attacked by three unidentified masked persons late last evening near Kakka Kandial village, 5 km from here.

Jagjit, a photographer, had made a video of the incident on March 3, 2013. The victim, who is his relative from Usman village, was severely beaten up by policemen at a local marriage palace, where she had come to attend a function.

The High Court and the Supreme Court had taken suo motu cognisance of a news item on the episode and a case was registered against the police team.

On the instructions of the Supreme Court, Jagjit had been given security cover and had three security personnel. However, at the time of the attack, he was not accompanied by any security guard.

Jagjit told mediapersons here today that he was coming back from his shop on his motorcycle when three masked persons stopped him near Kakka Kandiala village. One of the attackers had a stick in his hand. The three attacked him and decamped with his wallet which had Rs 13,400, he alleged. He then informed the police. —OC