Punjab minister Laljit Bhullar resigns amid row over suicide of warehousing official

Chandigarh: Punjab minister Laljit Singh Bhullar tendered his resignation from the state Cabinet on Saturday after Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann asked him to step down amid allegations of abetment of suicide of a state warehousing corporation official.

Gagandeep Singh Randhawa, the district manager of the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation in Amritsar, allegedly took his own life after consuming a poisonous substance on Friday.

A purported video surfaced on social media on Saturday in which Randhawa, who held the additional charge of Patti, was heard saying that he had consumed some poisonous substance and accused the transport minister of harassment.

"Kha layi 'celphos' tuhade yaar ne. Minister Laljit Bhullar de dar ton. Hun nahi main bachda," (Your friend consumed poison because of fear of minister Laljit Bhullar. I will not survive now)," Randhawa could be heard saying in the video.

However, Bhullar, the MLA from Patti in Tarn Taran, rejected allegations against him as baseless.

CM Mann said he has directed the chief secretary to conduct an impartial probe into the matter and asked the minister to step down for a fair probe.

"What are the reasons behind it? It is a matter of probe. Before conducting the probe, we took resignation from our cabinet minister so that no one could influence the probe or could put any pressure," Mann said, responding to reporters' query on Bhullar's resignation.

No negligence will be tolerated in the matter, Mann said, adding Bhullar's portfolios of transport and prison will be allocated to some other minister.

As the video surfaced online, the opposition party leaders slammed the AAP government and demanded action against Bhullar.

Accusing Bhullar of pressuring Randhawa to allot a warehouse tender in the name of his father, they alleged that Bhullar made a video of Randhawa and forced him to admit to accepting a Rs 10-lakh bribe from another party.

They further alleged that on March 13, Randhawa was called to Bhullar's place, where he was assaulted and humiliated.

Amritsar's Congress MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla, while speaking to reporters in Amritsar, said Bhullar had applied for a warehouse tender in his father's name. However, when the tender was allotted to some other person, Randhawa was called to Bhullar's residence and was assaulted, Aujla alleged.

In a Facebook post, Bhullar said his party always stands with the truth, so he wanted allegations against him to be investigated properly.

"Until this investigation is completed, I request the party and our chief minister to accept my resignation from the minister's post," he said.

Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia demanded the arrest of the AAP leader and a CBI probe into the matter.

Addressing the media in Amritsar, Majithia said the government was indulging in "mere drama" in the case and termed Bhullar's resignation as an eyewash.

"If the government is serious about justice, it should register a murder case and take the minister into custody immediately," he said, claiming the minister could be given a clean chit within days.

Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa termed the allegations against Bhullar grave and urged the Punjab and Haryana High Court to take suo motu cognisance and ensure justice.

Punjab BJP working president Ashwani Sharma too demanded the arrest of Bhullar and said Randhawa committed suicide following the alleged harassment by him.