ABOHAR – Two more accused were arrested in the murder case of Dalit youth Bhim Sain Tank reportedly at SAD leader Shiv Lal Doda’s farmhouse in Abohar. The police claimed to have recovered some weapons that were used to chop the limbs of Tank and Gurjant Singh, alias Janta, on Friday.
Inder Mohan Bhatti, SSP, said those arrested were Vivek Vij of Patel Nagar and Amarjit Singh Gakhu of Kundal village. Bhatti said the four arrested earlier revealed during interrogation that they had handed over the weapons to Vivek Vij at a liquor shop in Rajpura village on the Abohar-Hanumangarh road.
Thereafter, Vivek was nabbed. The police claimed he had confessed to dumping the weapons in a water tank, which were recovered.
While SAD MPs Balwinder Bhunder and Sher Singh Ghubaya distanced themselves from liquor baron Shiv Lal Doda, who is reportedly the main accused in the attack, the local unit of the SAD said the Doda family was innocent. The local urban unit office of the SAD is reportedly run from the commercial complex of Doda.
At a meeting presided over by Ashok Ahuja, president of the local unit and business partner of Doda family, the party passed a resolution, stating that the Doda family was innocent. They further alleged Congress legislator Sunil Jakhar was trying to settle political scores by targeting Doda.
Congress Legislature Party Leader Charanjit Singh Channi on Wednesday termed the SIT, constituted by the state government to probe the killing of a Dalit youth, an eyewash, adding that such probes were usually ordered to save the culprits. Channi flayed Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal for “protecting” the accused, Akali Dal leader and liquor baron Shiv Lal Doda and his nephew Amit Doda. Senior Congress leader Sunil Kumar Jakhar said it was difficult to expect a fair probe by SIT as its members earlier gave Doda and his nephew a clean chit. Channi also served a four-day ultimatum on the Badal government to arrest and register a criminal case against the two accused. At Doda’s farmhouse, the limbs of Dalit youth Bhim Sain Tank and Gurjant Singh, alias Janta, were chopped off. Tank died and Gurjant is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Amritsar. Channi said in case the government didn’t act in time, the safai karamchaaris of the state would go on a statewide strike. He appealed to all likeminded political parties of the state to come together to address the issue.
The doctors attending to Gurjant Singh, who was severely injured in Abohar attack, said his condition was stable, but not out of danger. Dr Avtar Singh, chief orthopaedic surgeon at Amandeep Hospital, said it would take few days more to say anything with certainty about the patient’s condition. An SP-level officer from Abohar on Wednesday met the victim to record his statement. The doctors have successfully rejoined his hand which was chopped off.
