Bains alleges attack by former aide, supporters

Harshraj Singh

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, February 18

Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) chief and Atam Nagar MLA Simarjit Singh Bains accused Congress leader and former aide Kamaljit Singh Karwal and the latter’s supporters of attacking him in Ward 49 today. Karwal denied the charges.

Bains said he had arrived for a meeting at the house of businessman Ashok Singla in Model Town Extension, when Karwal, along with Congress candidate Rajinder Kaur’s son Gurpreet Gopi and about 500 supporters barged in and attacked him.

“We were holding a talk when the Congressmen, armed with sticks and pistols, attacked us. It was an attempt to murder me. They also damaged vehicles of my supporters. It is sheer ‘goondagardi’ by the Congress. CCTVs installed in the area should be checked,” Bains said.

“I have complained to the Election Commission. We will also move the court seeking to appoint an election observer from another state for the February 24 Ludhiana MC elections,” he added.

Karwal said: “Singla had applied for the Congress ticket, but it was given to another applicant. Local MP Ravneet Singh Bittu was scheduled to visit Singla’s house at 4 pm as the latter wanted to support the party nominee. But Bains and his supporters reached there at 3:45 pm.”

“Nobody attacked Bains and his men. Instead, they attacked us and injured one of our supporters,” Karwal claimed. Singla refused to comment on the incident.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Ashwani Kapoor said when Bains visited the house, the Congressmen had also reached there. “Only a heated exchange took place. No one was attacked,” he added.

Writes to PM for security

Simarjit has written a letter to the PM, saying that he and his MLA brother Balwinder Singh Bains are receiving threat calls. “We don’t have any faith on the security provided by the state," he said, requesting the deployment of personnel of central agencies for their security. 

AAP flays ‘assault’, threatens stir 

Chandigarh: Leader of the Opposition Sukhpal Khaira condemned the “attack” on Simarjit Bains. He said this was the latest modus operandi of the Congress government to intimidate its political opponents through violent means. He said if the police did not arrest the Congress “goondas”, AAP and LIP would gherao the Commissioner’s office on Monday. tns