BKU activists protest murder case against farmer leader, kin in Bathinda

Members of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) staged a protest outside the SSP office in Bathinda on Wednesday, demanding the cancellation of what they termed a false murder case registered against Ram Singh Kotguru, a senior block president of the union, his wife and other family members. 

The protesters alleged that the case was fabricated to target farmer leaders and demanded an impartial inquiry into the matter. They called upon the police administration to conduct a fair investigation and ensure justice to those implicated.

DSP Gurpreet Singh met the agitating farmers and assured them of a thorough and transparent investigation into the case.

Addressing the gathering, BKU district general secretary Harjinder Singh Baggi, district leader Jagsir Singh Jhumbha and women wing leader Harinder Bindu said on October 26, Sukhjeevan Kaur, the sister-in-law of Ram Singh, died at DMC Hospital, Ludhiana. Before her death, they said, she had made a clear statement at the hospital declaring that neither her in-laws nor her husband’s family were responsible for her illness and that she did not wish to take action against anyone.

However, the union leaders alleged that based on false statements from Sukhjeevan Kaur’s parental family, the Punjab Government, acting with an intention to suppress the farmers’ movement, named Ram Singh, his wife, and others in a fabricated murder case.

They said the FIR falsely claimed that on October 10, Ram Singh and others forcibly administered poison to Sukhjeevan Kaur. The protesters presented evidence to counter this allegation, stating that Ram Singh was in Fazilka district that day, distributing clothes to flood-affected families; the deceased’s husband Iqbal Singh was in Amritsar district, working to bundle paddy straw; and Ram Singh’s brother Lachhman Singh and his wife Paramjit Kaur had taken the deceased’s son Karman Jot Singh to Sangat Mandi for medical treatment.