Bathinda cops book panchayat for banish order

Bathinda, April 25

Acting on a complaint given by the Punjab State Commission for Scheduled Castes, the Bathinda police have registered a case against Virk Kalan gram panchayat under the SC/ST Act for allegedly forcing a man out of the village. The Sadar police said Ram Singh of Virk Kalan was allegedly ousted by the gram panchyat after being accused of theft.

It is learnt that Ram Singh shifted here from Jawarhewala village in Muktsar 10 years ago. Around one-and-a-half year ago, a theft was reported and Ram Singh was booked based on some CCTV footage on the complaint of villagers. He was jailed.

The complainant mentions that the panchayat members gave him an ultimatum to vacate the village before March 6, 2020, and threatened to throw out his belongings if he didn’t move out.

Ram Singh maintained that he didn’t steal anything, but had to land in jail and return to the village he lived in a decade ago. His daughter Navjot Kaur, who is pursuing graduation, rued that the incident left the family deeply broken.

Gurcharan Singh, Sarpanch, Virk Kalan village, said, “It was not my personal decision. After organising a gram sabha, the decision to oust Ram Singh was taken by residents unanimously.”— TNS

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