Karnal Cong leader dies after police raid his house

Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Karnal, April 23

Congress leader Balbir Pal (48) died of heart attack today hours after the police visited his house here to arrest him in connection with a case of fraud.

The police reached Pal’s house around 11.30 pm on Thursday in connection with his alleged involvement in withdrawing the bank statement of local BJP leader Chander Parkash Kathuria. The family assured the police that Pal would produce himself before the police next day. Around 2 am today, the Congress leader suffered a heart attack.

The police went to his house again around 6.30 am to arrest him. This angered Pal’s family, relatives and neighbours. They held a Sub-Inspector hostage for around two hours.

They placed the body on the Karnal-Pehowa road and blocked it for two hours, demanding action against the police and the BJP leader.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Rajesh Kumar, along with a police force, reached the spot and tried to pacify the protesters, but they remained adamant on their demand.

With the assurance of SP Abhishek Garg of registering a case against the police and the BJP leader, the family agreed for the post-mortem.

“My father was not a criminal. He was a reputed person. The police action was illegal, as they did not have an arrest warrant. The police acted under the influence of the BJP leader,” alleged Anushka, Pal’s daughter.

She claimed the police personnel were in the civil dress and used abusive language against women of the family. “The police’s visit was a setback for my father. He could not bear the shock and died.”

Kathuria refuted Anushka’s charge of mounting pressure on the police. “I am innocent and it is a conspiracy against me,” he said.

“On the complaint of the deceased’s mother, a case has been registered against Sub-Inspector Ram Narain, ASI Baldev, head constable Jasbir, Kathuria, his wife and Jaswinder Narula,” the SP said.