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Attack on tehsildar was planned
by Akali councilors
WSN Network
 LUDHIANA: Apanel
tasked by the state government to probe the beating of a senior
revenue official by Akali Dal hoodlums led by a couple of councilors
close to Sukhbir Singh Badal has now found that the attack was a
“planned conspiracy” and not an “impromptu” one.
The
investigation pointed out that the assailants had “advanced proper
briefing” from Akali councilors Simarjeet Singh Bains, who
“masterminded the attack, was one of the main accused who led the
attack” and “was armed with a gun”. The probe found “enough”
evidence to substantiate that the assailants used the same weapon to
intimidate Major G S Benipal, the tehsildar, and threatened to kill
him with. The SIT is also learnt to have identified the place were
the weapon was later hid. The SIT findings corroborate Benipal’s
charge that the assailants threatened him at gunpoint, which was
refuted by Bains and accomplices. Benipal was publicly attacked by a
group of Akali activists, including councilors Kamaljeet Singh
Karwal, besides Bains. They did not even allow the Deputy
Commissioner and SSP to take the seriously injured officer to
hospital. The probe said the attack was “masterminded” by Bains a
few days earlier and two of his lieutenants,
Ravi
and Karwal, were taken into confidence to execute the plan. On June
19, there was no specific provocation on the part of
Benipal except
for the fact that he asked the Akali workers to follow the “queue”.
The attack was followed by a drawn out strike by revenue officials
across the state and the government got much egg on the face as a
result.
1 July 2009
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