The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today demanded immediate arrest of Congress Kisan and Khet Mazdor Cell president Inderjit Singh Zira and his goons for inhuman attack on villagers who were protesting with the body of a farmer who committed suicide after his land was snatched from him at the behest of the Congress leader at the Zira police station.Senior SAD leaders Bikram Singh Majithia and Sikander Singh Maluka said in a bizarre incident yesterday Inderjit Zira led more than 200 goons to the Zira police station where villagers and kisan unions were engaged in a peaceful protest to demand action against Congress leaders who falsely registered 9.50 acres of land of a family which had been tilling it since independence leading to one its members committing suicide.Mr Majithia said never before in independent India has such an incident occurred. “Congress goons led by Zira first closed down the market yesterday and then switched off power before attacking the peaceful protesters with bricks, stones and sharp edged weapons injuring numerous villagers who have been admitted in Faridkot hospital. The goons even tried to snatch the dead body of 25 year old suicide victim Jatinder Singh and the villagers ran with the body for one kilometer to save it from being desecrated. All this occurred in the presence and with the active connivance of the district police with SSP Pritam Singh and several other officers including DSP Jaspal Dhillon being present at the police station”.
Giving details of the incident, Mr Majithia said the issue was related to a family of Pritam Singh of Kacharbhan village in Zira who was tilling 9.50 acres of land for the last 60 to 70 years and even had got the girdwari done in their name in 1974. He said Congress leader Inderjit Zira connived with the village Nambardar and along with this brother Mahinderjit got the land registered illegally in the name of the wife of his personal assistant Rashpal. He said the registry was done despite the fact that there was no heir of the original land owners Sawan Mal and Jeewan Mal who were issueless and died more than 100 years back. He said Inderjit Zira’s brother Mahinderjit, his PA Rashpal and Nambardar Jagtar Singh signed as were witnesses to this fraudulent registry.The Akali leaders said post registry the family of Pritam Singh faced lot of problems in harvesting their wheat crop with Inderjit Zira pressurizing the civil and police administration to put restraining orders on them. They said the family was able to harvest the wheat crop after a court stay order and with the support of a Kisan Sangharsh Committee but Zira and his goons took possession of the land immediately afterwards. They said this instigated Jatinder to commit suicide in sheer helplessness as the entire share of 2.25 acres of his part of the family was taken away from them.
The SAD leaders said after Jatinder’s suicide on April 29 the police did not register any case in the matter and even tried to pin other causes for the suicide due to which villagers took his body to the police station and staged a peaceful protest demanding justice in the case. They said the villagers stayed at the police station for one night and the next day after which Inderjit Zira personally led an attack against them after sunset on April 30.Mr Majithia demanded immediate registration of an attempt to murder case against Inderjit Zira and his associates for the attack on the peaceful protestors besides separate cases against Mahinderjit and Rashpal for indulging in a false registry. He said a separate case should be registered against police officials, including SP (D) Ajmer Singh Baht and DSP Jaspal Dhillon for dereliction of duty. He said DSP Jaspal Dhillon, who had also instigated firing against Akali leaders at Manawala during the local body elections while SP A S Baht’s real brother Jasbir Singh Bomb had been appointed as president of the Zira truck union by Inderjit Zira. “Both officials should be suspended immediate for the partisan manner in which they handled this as well as other issues concerning Inderjit Zira”, he added.He said this was not the first time that Zira had used his close associate’s wife Sarabjit Kaur to usurp public property. He said one year back goons took possession of few shops of sawmill owner Mangal Singh and registered the same in the name of Sarabjit Kaur but re-transferred the same after Mangal Singh coughed up Rs 1.25 crore to them.