Nakodar, July 6: Even as the Jalandhar rural police have filed a cancellation report in a local court regarding an FIR on illegal mining lodged against Shahkot Congress MLA Hardev Singh Laddi Sherowalia, the complainant has decided to challenge the move in the court.
A CPI (Marxist-Leninist) leader from Malri village, Mohan Singh (68) says he will flag his complaint against the MLA in the judicial courts complex at Nakodar on August 2. He has been issued a notice to appear in the court of Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Tanveer Singh.
An FIR against Laddi had been registered on May 4 under Section 21 of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act and Section 379 (theft) of the IPC by then Mehatpur SHO, Inspector Parminder Bajwa. The FIR had come a day after Laddi had been declared the Congress candidate for the May 28 byelection.
Pulling out a file from underneath the mattress of his bed, Mohan Singh says, “The police and the administration have filed the inquiry report under political pressure. They have not done as much groundwork as my friend Sarain Singh and myself. We have clicked pictures of trenches dug up to 20-ft depth on panchayat land of 11 villages by the MLA’s henchmen. We will show these and produce more evidence in the court after consultation with my lawyer, Karampal Singh Gill.”
Mohan Singh, a die-hard Communist, quit his JBT teacher’s job in 1975 to join the Naxalite movement. He is presently a leader of the brick-kiln workers union. His tiny room is full of cartons, packed with literature penned by Communist leaders. There are pictures of Shaheed Bhagat Singh in all rooms of his house.
“My two sons are apprehensive about my safety. I have already given a submission in the High Court that if I am harmed, Laddi should be held responsible. Unidentified people have been hanging around in the neighbourhood and abusing me over the past two months, but I have not taken security as that’s against my ideology,” he said.
Since Mohan Singh’s mobile phone number, mentioned in the FIR, got widely circulated, he had to change his contact. His son, Gurwinder Singh, said, “We kept our father away from home for some days. Even after he returned, I have been taking him along to work with me.”
Mohan Singh has words of sympathy for ex-SHO Bajwa, who lodged the FIR.
“A daring cop, he was dubbed mentally unsound. Actually, he was well aware of the facts. He did everything consciously,” he said.
Source Tribune India
