Sukhbinder Calcutta murder: Protests continue as talks remain inconclusive, committee demands Bhadaur MLA's inclusion in FIR

After two failed rounds of talks with Barnala SSP Mohd Sarafaraz Alam and one with ADC (D) Satwant Singh on Tuesday, the 21-member ‘Insaaf Committee’ formed by protesters demanding justice in the murder of 45-year-old Sukhbinder Singh Calcutta held a meeting with Deputy Commissioner T Benith and the SSP at the district administrative complex (DAC) here on Wednesday evening.

However, that meeting also remained inconclusive and the post-mortem of the deceased had not been conducted even after five days. The body is being kept at the Civil Hospital, Barnala.

Notably, Sukhbinder, son of the village’s former sarpanch Malkit Kaur, was shot dead on Saturday at a shop near the village bus stand. In solidarity with the family, all shops in Sehna village remained shut on Wednesday for the second time in the past five days.

Talking to The Tribune, Deputy Commissioner T Benith said, “We held a meeting with the family and some of the committee members. They demanded a fair investigation and the release of pending payments for works carried out during their tenure as sarpanch. However, they did not have any bills. Still, we told them that the matter would be looked into. We did not give any assurance to nominate anyone without a proper investigation. The meeting will be held again on Thursday, and then the issue will most likely be resolved.”

Meanwhile, Babbu Singh Pandher, a committee member, said, “The meeting lasted for a long time. The officers present agreed to our demands, but we will not budge from our stand until they give us a written assurance.”

The ‘Insaaf Committee’ on Wednesday also issued a two-point ultimatum to the state government. “The committee has decided to continue the protest until AAP MLA from Bhadaur, Labh Singh Ugoke, is named in the FIR. Besides, the grants of nearly Rs 60 lakh, representing pending payments for village development works spent by the deceased’s family during their tenure as sarpanch, should be released. The family has also announced that it does not want any kind of relief from the state government,” said former MP Rajdev Singh Khalsa, who is among those leading the protest.

Notably, three residents of Sehna village, Harjinder Singh alias Jinder, who allegedly shot Sukhbinder; Gurdeep Dass alias Deepi Bawa, who allegedly had enmity with the deceased over panchayat elections; and Jagwinder Singh alias Paplu, who allegedly accompanied Jinder to procure a pistol from Ludhiana, have already been arrested. The protesters are accusing Ugoke of being behind the murder, as he had courted controversy in 2023 by publicly telling Sukhbinder that he would have been thrashed and imprisoned for opposing the government if a different party had been in power. The video had gone viral on social media.