Punjab Governor seeks detailed report from CM Bhagwant Mann on Tarn Taran ‘illegal’ mining incident

PTI

Chandigarh, October 5

Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Thursday sought a detailed report from Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Khadoor Sahib MLA Manjinder Singh Lalpura's allegations against the police regarding his relative's arrest in an illegal sand mining case, and the subsequent transfer of the Tarn Taran SSP following the arrest.

The governor's latest missive to the chief minister came days after Lalpura had accused Tarn Taran SSP Gurmeet Singh Chauhan of arresting his brother-in-law in a “fake” illegal sand mining case. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA's relative was arrested along with nine others in the illegal mining case.

In a Facebook post, the MLA alleged that Chauhan had registered a fake case against his brother-in-law after he raised his voice against corruption in the district police.

However, Chauhan had rejected the allegation and said that action was taken against illegal mining following a tip-off.

The senior police official was later transferred from Tarn Taran while five other policemen were suspended.

“I have been reading contradictory reports in the media regarding the allegations of a MLA about corruption in the police, involvement of MLA's close relative in the illegal mining during night time and suspension of police officials and the subsequent transfer of SSP Tarn Taran," the governor wrote in a letter to Mann.

“The issue of illegal mining is an important issue in Punjab and a lot of corruption is attributed to this. In the background of this, some media reports pointed out that police party busted an illegal mining activity going on during night time in Tarn Taran district and one close relative of the MLA is part of it,” he added.

Purohit said media reports further suggested that the police team which went to raid the illegal mining activity was suspended and the SSP was transferred.

“In view of these media reports, I would like to have a detailed report on the issue of allegations by the MLA, illegal mining activity, and subsequent action against the police officials,” wrote the governor.

A tussle between the AAP government in Punjab and the Raj Bhavan has been going on over several issues. 

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