Dhadrianwale seeks CBI probe into attack

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, May 26

Sikh preacher Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale here today demanded that the probe into the May 17 attack – in which his aide, Bhupinder Singh Khasi Kalan, was shot dead – should be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), even as he turned down Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh’s proposal for a compromise with Damdami Taksal head Harnam Singh Dhumma.

Addressing his supporters during Khasi Kalan’s ‘bhog’ ceremony, Dhadrianwale said, “We don’t trust the state government and the Punjab Police. Everyone in Punjab knows who is the mastermind of the attack and he has even confessed it before the media. But the government has failed to ‘identify’ him even after nine days.”

He asked his supporters to visit the Deputy Commissioner’s office in various districts and give a memorandum for shifting the inquiry to the CBI.

Targeting Giani Gurbachan Singh, Dhadrianwale said, “Sikhs no longer recognise him as the Jathedar, so there is no need for his intervention. We didn’t kill anyone and don’t believe in bloodshed, so why are they advising us to keep calm? They should advise those who are still threatening us and showering flowers on the killers.” He reiterated his allegation that Dhumma was a land grabber.

The Panj Pyaras, whose services were terminated by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), declared Khasi Kalan as a ‘martyr of the community’ (‘qaumi shaheed’).

More than 20 speakers addressed the gathering, but none named Dhumma, even though they demanded the Taksal head’s ouster to save the 300-year-old Sikh institution.

Obliquely referring to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Mohkam Singh of the United Akali Dal said, “An elderly Sikh leader sitting in Chandigarh is behind the incidents.”

Most of the speakers stressed the need for unity in the Panth by following the maryada (code of conduct).

Prominent among others present on the occasion were former Takht Damdama Sahib Jathedar Balwant Singh Nandgarh, Baljit Singh Daduwal, Giani Ram Singh Sangrawan, Bhai Panthpreet Singh, Sarbjit Singh Dhunda, former militant Wassan Singh Zaffarwal, SAD (Delhi) president Paramjit Singh Sarna, MLAs Ranjit Singh Dhillon (SAD), Balwinder Singh Bains (Independent) and Gurcharan Singh Boparai (Congress) and Aam Aadmi Party leader HS Phoolka.