SAD to move HC over fresh case against Ferozepur leader, relatives

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Monday said it would move the High Court against the lodging of a fresh case against its Ferozepur leader and his kin, accused of fabricating evidence to implicate police personnel in a case involving allegations of illegal detention.

The case was registered on November 26 by the Jalalabad City police against SAD leader Vardev Singh Mann, his brother Nardev Singh Mann and three other family members. Eight unidentified people have also been booked.

Vardev and Nardev are sons of the late three-time SAD Lok Sabha MP Jora Singh Mann. This comes days after Vardev Singh Mann was arrested by the police in connection with a violent clash that took place outside the Block Development and Panchayat Officer’s office in Fazilka’s Jalalabad town last year during nominations for the panchayat polls. The party on Monday claimed that it was being done at the behest of ruling AAP to prevent their candidates from contesting the zila parishad elections.

‘False cases lodged’

Addressing reporetrs here, party’s legal cell chief Arshdeep Singh Kler said, “The false FIR is being used to prevent the Mann family from contesting the zila parishad and block samiti elections. Even the earlier case registered against Vardev and Nardev was frivolous.”

“The Mann brothers were accused of entering the Block Development and Panchayat Officer’s room in Jalalabad and indulging in firing. The government could not produce any CCTV footage of this incident and even the forensic laboratory had reported that no licensed weapon of the Mann brothers had been used in this purported incident,” he said about the earlier case.

Kler alleged that all cases were filed at the instance of an AAP legislator. “The SAD will take up the false case registered against the Mann brothers and their relatives and the party’s zila parishad candidate in the High Court. We are hopeful of securing justice in this case also,” he said.

When asked about the claims of Tarn Taran SP (Investigation) Riputapan Singh about having ample evidence of Kanchanpreet Kaur’s involvement in a criminal syndicate allegedly run by her Canada-based husband, Kler said, “If it was so, then why did the police fell short of proving it in the court in the presence of two senior judicial officers who were nominated to present the state government’s side to justify her arrest.”