Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia accuses the AAP government of orchestrating the arrest of an MLA to deflect attention from a growing scandal surrounding a warehousing official's suicide, sparking controversy and calls for an independent investigation.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Wednesday attacked the Bhagwant Mann government, alleging that the arrest of AAP MLA Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra was a "stage-managed show" to divert attention from the suicide of a warehousing corporation official.
Pathanmajra, a first-time MLA from Sanour in Patiala, was arrested by the Punjab Police from Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior, more than six months after he escaped police custody in a rape case.
Amid tight security arrangements, Pathanmajra was presented before a court in Patiala which sent him to a four-day police remand.
In a statement here, Majithia said the transition from projecting Pathanmajra as "absconding" to suddenly showing him as "arrested" raises serious questions about the sequence of events.
He termed it a "scripted exercise", aimed at shifting public focus from the Gagandeep Singh Randhawa suicide case, which has sparked outrage and demands for accountability.
Randhawa, the district manager of Punjab State Warehousing Corporation in Amritsar, allegedly ended his life by consuming poison on March 21, and a video appeared in which he purportedly claimed harassment by Laljit Singh Bhullar, who resigned as minister later in the day at the direction of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann amid the row.
Majithia alleged that the development points to a "fixed match" being played to control the narrative.
He said the timing of the arrest cannot be ignored, coming at a time when the government is under pressure over the circumstances surrounding Randhawa's suicide.
"Pathanmajra, once projected as powerful and untouchable, is now being used as part of a political strategy to manage damage. This is not governance, this is diversion," he alleged, adding that such moves only deepen public suspicion.
Referring to the Randhawa suicide case, Majithia said the people of Punjab are aware of the seriousness of the issue and will not be misled by what he described as political theatrics.
He reiterated the demand for a fair and transparent CBI probe, asserting that attempts to deflect attention will not bring justice.