Whistleblower attacked, 6 booked

Karam Prakash
Tribune News Service
Patiala, January 10

The whistleblower of the fake schedule caste certificate scam at Alampur village in Patiala district, Balbir Singh, was attacked on Thursday afternoon. Balbir Singh, a motor mechanic, was attacked with sticks and bricks at around 10.30 am near his village. The 28-year-old suffered serious injuries on his head and was admitted to Government Rajindra Hospital for treatment. He had received stitches on his head.

The whistleblower had, already, given a written request for security to Chairman SC Commission and police officials, including the Patiala SSP, apprehending the attack.

In fact, Balbir Singh, last year, had filed a complaint to the SC Commission against some persons of his village for using ‘fake’ SC certificates to avail the government benefits. The sarpanch was one of the accused in the scam.

The whistleblower alleged that the village was under reserved category and the sarpanch had won the election by using fake SC certificate only. Meanwhile, sources informed the Tribune that six people of the village, including sarpanch, have already been found guilty in an inquiry of using fake SC certificate.

However, the inquiry report is yet to be out and said to have been delayed, on purpose.

Tejinder Kaur, chairperson, Punjab State Scheduled Castes Commission, said, “It is a very unfortunate incident. I am very disturbed. I have already asked police officials to arrest the accused at the earliest.”

Kaur said that she had spoken to the principal secretary of Social Justice, Empowerment and Minorities, over the phone, to expedite the case.

However, Kirpa Shankar Saroj, principal secretary, Social Justice, Empowerment and Minorities, while talking to The Tribune, said, “I will again ask our director to report to me about the delay in the case.”

The Patiala police have booked six persons, including the village sarpanch, under sections 307, 341, 323, 149, 120-B of the Indian Penal code and sections 3 and 4 of the SC, ST Act. The accused have been identified as Davinder Singh, Sewa Singh, Balwinder Singh, Gopi, Happy, and village sarpanch Harchand Singh.

However, no arrests have been made, so far. In the meanwhile, Station House Officer, Sadar, Bikar Singh, said, “We have registered the case and investigations are underway. We are trying our best to nab the accused.”