Leg chopped off –yet another case in Punjab

Media in Punjab has carried clips of witnesses saying that 20-year-old Sukhchain was beaten with iron rods and attacked with sharp weapons on Monday. “They broke his legs, slashed his stomach with and chopped off his leg,”. His body was found in the house of one of the six men accused in the murder. The family has said that Sukhchain was attacked because they suspected him of leaking information to rival liquor vendors. The police say it was the result of gang rivalry.

The situation remained  at  village near Mansa in Punjabwhere the family members and relatives of 21-year-old Dalit boy Sukhchain Singh, who was brutally done to death by some influential persons on Monday, refused to cremate the body, demanding the arrest of six main accused and over 24 of their accomplices.

The Mansa police arrested Balbir Singh alias Kala, Hardip Singh alias Kala and Sadhu Singh of Gharangana . The families of the accused have reportedly fled the village, fearing police action.

“We won’t cremate the body till all the accused are arrested,” said Sukhvir Singh, victim’s brother.

The Congress has demanded a CBI probe into the Dalit youth’s killing, accusing the ruling SAD-BJP government of “letting loose a reign of terror” against the underprivileged sections.

PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh said: “I have exhorted party workers to extend all possible help to the victim’s family. Dalits are feeling insecure in the state and the Badal-led government is trying to create social upheaval in the state. The liquor mafia is being patronised by the Akalis.”

The police have assured the family of early action. “We are zeroing in on the remaining accused. They will be nabbed soon,” SK Asthana, IG, Bathinda zone has been quoted by media in Punajb.  He, however, claimed that during the investigations, they could not establish the involvement of any Akali leader in the case. “Both sides indulged in illicit liquor trade and had an old enmity,” Asthana said, adding that the missing left leg of the victim was recovered from the fields around 300 m away from the house of main accused Balbir Singh alias Kala.