Chandigarh, July 21: Asking Congress leader and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to disclose his relations with the accused named in the latest charge sheet of the CBI, Haryana finance minister Capt Abhimanyu on Friday said the February 2016 Rohtak violence was a “conspiracy” that the Congress had hatched in the garb of Jat reservation stir.
“Most of the accused named in the CBI charge sheet were Congress workers and office bearers active in the assembly segment of Bhupinder Singh Hooda,” Capt Abhimanyu said in a news conference here, pointing out that there was a direct link between the accused and the Congress.
Refuting the allegations, former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said,“The kind of language Capt Abhimanyu has been using is a testament of his frustration. His objective is to defame me by levelling baseless allegations. The matter is sub-judice. I am confident that the truth will ultimately prevail.”
The CBI, which is investigating into the case of loot and arson at Abhimanyu’s house during the Jat stir in February 2016, in its latest charge sheet has included transcripts of phone calls between the accused.
This evidence has bolstered the state BJP government’s claim of “political conspiracy” behind the violence that rocked the state for three consecutive days in February 2016.
Among the accused in the CBI charge sheet include Jat leader Ashok Balhara and Gaurav Hooda, son of Krishan Murti Hooda, an aide of former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
Stating that CBI’s findings have brought to the fore “stunning facts”, Abhimanyu said it was due to this reason that “certain big Congress leaders” and lawyers owing allegiance to Congress were resisting the CBI investigation into the case.
He further said that some of the accused named in the charge-sheet are directly linked to the son of a former minister, MLA and leader of the Congress. Abhimanyu also alleged that Sudip Kalkal, a relative of former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, talked over the phone about the plan to surround his house.
The minister said the kin of the 32 people who were killed during the Jat stir and the 100 who were injured, apart from those whose properties were burnt and suffered massive losses, have the right to at least know the “reason behind this well-planned violence” that divided the people and hurt the social fabric.
The transcripts of phone calls between the accused before February 2016, he said, is a testimony of the fact that it was a sinister political design which had nothing to do with Jat reservation.
“What was the motive behind this violence? Was this an attempt to scare the people of Rohtak or destabilise the government? Why was Haryana burnt? Those behind this conspiracy owe an explanation to the people of Haryana,” the minister said and clarified that he was spearheading this battle to get justice to the victims of this violence.
“I am fighting to find out who was behind this violence, arson and loot. I am not fighting this battle just because my family was the target when my ancestral house was burnt in Rohtak. My sole objective is to know at whose instruction Haryana was burnt,” he said.
Source Hindustan Times
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