Former minister and senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Friday demanded the immediate registration of a criminal case against former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi for “duping” four ex-servicemen from the Scheduled Caste community and two others of Rs 45 lakhs on the pretext of inducting them into the Punjab Police.
Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh, along with the ex-servicemen who alleged that the Punjab Police had refused to include the former CM’s name in the complaint, Bikram Majithia said, “It seems Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has now come to an understanding with Channi and this is why no action is being taken by the police in this case”. The four ex-servicemen had been approached by Channi’s aide, Daljit Singh, who promised them appointments as sub-inspectors. Two others, who had also given varying sums to Daljit, had been promised jobs in the Punjab Police. One of the ex-servicemen, Gurdial Singh, said they had met Channi and Daljit to request recruitment. The then Chief Minister reportedly told them that Daljit would take care of everything required. Gurdial said he paid Rs 17 lakh while ex-servicemen Jagdish Singh, Darshan Singh and Dharminder Singh paid Rs 6 lakh and Rs 5 lakh each respectively. He said two other persons had paid Rs 5 lakh and Rs 3.70 lakh respectively.
“I met Channi in April and November 2021 and he even issued a letter along with a pass from the DGP’s office so that we could meet the DGP on 10 November”. He said when nothing further happened and they realized they had been duped they approached the Amritsar Rural police but it refused to register a case in the matter. “Finally a case was registered against Daljit when the BKU Ugrahan group held a dharna in our support but even then the former chief minister’s name has not been included in the FIR”, he added. Majithia said the servicemen were being denied justice by the AAP government because Channi had mended his fences with CM Mann. He said in case the government did not act against Channi the SAD would approach the Governor and take legal recourse. The SAD leader also said the former CM’s nephew, Honey, had been caught red-handed by central agencies with ill-gotten wealth amounting to Rs 10 crore.
