Warrants against four Akalis for attack on Rana Gurmit in 2013

FEROZEPUR: A court of First Class Judicial Magistrate, Ferozepur, issued arrest warrants against four Akali leaders, including the son and the nephew of former SAD member of Parliament for an attack on the private assistant (PA) of Congress MLA during the last panchayat polls in the state.

It may recalled that on May 7, 2013, Congress MLA from Guruharsahai of Ferozepur district Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi had alleged that he had a narrow escape while Nasib Singh, his PA sustained injuries with a gunshot besides sharp-edged weapons during a clash between SAD-Congress workers.

Nasib was in the tehsil court room at Mamdot, a rural town in Guruharsahai assembly segment to assist the Congressmen to file their nomination papers for the block damiti polls when Akali leader and halqa in-charge Guruharsahai Verdev Singh alias Nonny Mann, who is son of Zora Singh Mann, a threetime MP, SAD leaders Gursewak Singh alias Kaish Mann (cousin of Nonny), Montu Vohra and Bachitar Singh besides others badly thrashed Nasib and attacked with sharp-edged weapons and later also shot at him following which he sustained injuries and was hospitalised, charged Sodhi.

When he, along with his supporters rushed towards the spot, on the way at village Chappati on the Lakhoke Behram road, Vohra allegedly forcibly stopped his car and later even fired at him but due to efforts of his securitymen, he escaped, Sodhi further alleged.

Later on, then Ferozepur range DIG Mohnish Chawla had formed a special inquiry team (SIT) headed by then Ferozepur SSP Varinder Paul Singh which had found the charges leveled by Sodhi of gun shot at him by SAD(B) as baseless while the injury to his PA Naseeb as charged due to gunshot also allegedly self-fabricated.

Sodhi had claimed that all the charges levelled by them were genuine as the Akali Dal-BJP combine had ‘murdered’ democracy in the state of Punjab by arm-twisting the police force. On August 1, 2013, Naseeb filed a complaint in a local court which issued summons to all four named above (Verdev Singh alias Nonny Mann, Gursewak Singh alias Kaish Mann, Montu Vohra and Bachitar Singh) but when they did not appear before the court, Varinder Kumar, Judicial Magistrate First Class, issued summoned through non-bailable of arrest for March 2,2013. (Source HT)