Dera Baba Nanak bypoll: Punjab CEO asks Haryana to enhance vigil on jailed gangster Bhagwanpuria
The action comes after Congress MP Randhawa alleged that the gangster was ‘threatening’ voters to influence byelections. In his letter, Punjab chief electoral officer Sibin C also emphasised the seriousness of the matter and requested immediate action, with a report to be sent to him for further information to the Election Commission of India.
Punjab chief electoral officer (CEO) Sibin C has written to the Haryana prisons department, requesting a strict vigil on Jaggu Bhagwanpuria in Kurukshetra jail following Congress MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa’s allegation that the gangster was threatening voters to influence the bypoll in the Dera Baba Nanak assembly constituency.
The Punjab CEO wrote to the additional director general (ADGP), prisons, Haryana, on Friday, requesting necessary action on a priority basis regarding the complaint against Bhagwanpuria, who is currently held in Kurukshetra jail.
Sibin sent this communication after a request from senior superintendent of police (SSP), Batala, Suhail Qasim Mir, for strict vigil on Bhagwanpuria and enhanced preventive measures to block any external communication, in light of Randhawa’s allegations against the jailed gangster.
The police have also suggested a detailed inspection of the inmate’s cell and adjoining areas to locate and confiscate any unauthorised mobile devices in his possession, according to people familiar with the matter.
In his letter, the CEO also emphasised the seriousness of the matter and requested immediate action, with a report to be sent to him for further information to the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Randhawa, a former deputy chief minister, last week alleged that Bhagwanpuria was threatening and intimidating Congress workers and others through video calls from jail to help the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). He also sought the deployment of paramilitary forces for the byelection in Dera Baba Nanak. “Though there was no confirmation of the allegations, the Election Commission has deployed two companies of central armed paramilitary forces (CAPF) to ensure free, fair and peaceful elections in the assembly constituency,” one of the people quoted above said.
A district police official also said that the Gurdaspur MP’s allegations could not be substantiated, as no one came forward during the inquiry to confirm they had received a call from the jailed gangster. The Dera Baba Nanak byelection – one of the four assembly constituencies in Punjab heading to bypoll on November 20 – is a matter of prestige for Randhawa, as his wife, Jatinder Kaur Randhawa, is the Congress candidate. She is pitted against AAP’s Gurdeep Singh Randhawa and BJP’s Ravikaran Singh Khalon, son of former assembly speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon. The assembly seat became vacant after Sukhjinder Randhawa, who is also AICC in-charge for Rajasthan, was elected to the Lok Sabha from Gurdaspur in May this year.
