Amarinder, supporters storm police station against 'false' cases

Chandigarh, April 13 (IANS) Accompanied by a number of party workers and leaders, Punjab Congress president and former chief minister Amarinder Singh Friday stormed into the Dayalpura police station in Rampura Phul assembly constituency to protest against 'false" cases being slapped on Congress leaders and workers by the police.

Offering himself for arrest to protest against the "false cases" slapped against former legislator Gurpreet Singh Kangar and several others, Amarinder alleged that the Punjab police was involved in the political vendetta unleashed against Congress workers by the Parkash Singh Badal-led government.

A congress spokesman said that the Dayalpura station house officer (SHO), who is alleged to have registered the false cases, had left the police station before the Congress leaders arrived.

Rampura Phul is about 220 km from Chandigarh.

Amarinder warned the Akali Dal-BJP government that in case it did not stop the vendetta against the Congress workers, they will be forced to come on the streets.

He said, despite Chief Minister Badal's claims to the contrary, several cases of vendetta have been registered against Congress workers in different parts of the state. He announced that he will be visiting each and every worker who has been victimized.

Talking to reporters inside the police station, Amarinder said: "This government seems to be desperate to put the Congress workers behind bars and I have come here today to tell them that if you are so desperate, you arrest me but don't harass my workers".

He regretted that Badal had not stood by his word that there would not be any political vendetta.

Amarinder also visited the house of Tarsem Singh and Baljeet Singh, who have been falsely implicated in the case along with Kangar. He said that the workers were targeted for supporting the Congress in recent assembly elections.