Officer suicide case: Case registered against three people including former Punjab minister Bhullar, his father

Chandigarh: Police have registered a case against former state minister Laljit Singh Bhullar in connection with the alleged suicide of a Warehousing Corporation official in Punjab. Officials gave this information on Sunday. Gagandeep Singh Randhawa, district manager of Punjab State Warehousing Corporation in Amritsar, allegedly committed suicide on Saturday.

Police have also registered a case against Bhullar’s father Sukhdev Singh Bhullar and his personal assistant Dilbag Singh. An FIR has been registered in this case under sections 108 (abetment of suicide), 351 (3) (criminal intimidation) and 3 (5) (common intention) of the Indian Justice Code.

The case was registered at Amritsar’s Ranjeet Avenue police station on Saturday night on the complaint of Randhawa’s wife Upinder Kaur. Laljit Singh Bhullar had resigned from the state cabinet on Saturday.

Amid allegations of abetting the officer’s suicide, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had asked Bhullar to step down. Randhawa was heard saying in the video, “Kha layi sulfas tuhade yaar ne.” Minister Laljeet Bhullar give fear. Hun nahi main bachna (Your friend has consumed sulfas, due to fear of Minister Laljit Bhullar. Now I will not save).”

Bhullar, MLA from Patti in Tarn Taran district, termed the allegations against him baseless. Earlier, Mann had said that he has directed the Chief Secretary to investigate the matter and has asked Bhullar to step down so that the investigation can be conducted in an impartial manner.

Mann had said that no negligence would be tolerated in this matter and Bhullar’s transport and jail departments would be handed over to some other minister. After the video surfaced online, leaders of opposition parties criticized the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and demanded action against Bhullar.

He alleged that Bhullar was pressurizing Randhawa to allot a warehouse contract to his father. Bhullar has also been accused of making a video of Randhawa and forcing him to confess to taking a bribe of Rs 10 lakh from another party. One allegation said that on March 13, Randhawa was called to Bhullar’s place where he was assaulted and humiliated.