Bathinda: Activists of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan) staged demonstrations outside police stations across 13 districts of Punjab on Wednesday to protest the Mansa police’s action of taking control of a casket carrying the body of 35-year-old Daljit Singh.
The union is demanding that the police administration immediately hand over Daljit’s body to his family. Mansa police claimed he was murdered and that three suspects have been arrested under murder charges While his family alleges he died of a drug overdose. Daljit’s wife Paramjit Kaur alleged that police were pressuring the family to perform a post-mortem examination and cremation. “Instead of acting against drug peddlers, the police are attempting to portray this as a murder case to hide the easy availability of drugs. Heavy police forces were deployed across key locations in Mansa district. By Wednesday noon, former chief minister and Congress MP from Jalandhar Charanjit Singh Channi joined the protesters at Mansa’s Tinkoni locality, condemning the police’s forcible seizure of the body.
“He died due to drugs because narcotics are freely available in our villages,” she said on Wednesday. Officials said the deployment was a precautionary measure as large crowds were anticipated following a call by acting Akal Takht jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj for special ardas (prayers) at gurdwaras across the state. Daljit, a resident of Bhamme Kalan village in Mansa, was found dead in a field near Ramanandi village on Tuesday morning. Police took custody of the casket on Tuesday evening as the family, accompanied by supporters, marched toward Mansa town to join an ongoing protest seeking justice for slain anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh, alias Jhota.
