Punjab books minors for “murder” for attack on Akali buses

While 11 students, including a girl, are languishing in the Faridkot central jail, Harpreet is in the juvenile home for the past one week.
Booked Minor lands in hospital after ‘torture’
• Harpreet Singh, 13, was allegedly kicked in the groin by goons of an Akali transporter while in a police lock-up
• He has reportedly developed hydroceles, a post-traumatic disease caused by an injury in the groin area
• The authorities of the juvenile home where he is lodged these days took him to Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital for treatment on Wednesday
A week after the alleged torture of a 13-year-old student in a police lock-up by goons of an Akali transporter at Faridkot, the juvenile home authorities had to take the boy to Hospital after he developed a medical complication.
The minor was allegedly kicked repeatedly on his private parts by the goons of the Akali leader in the police lock-up on May 6. It led to hydroceles, a post-traumatic disease caused by an injury in the groin area reported a leading daily from Chandigarh.
Harpreet Singh, a Class VI student of Ghudduwala village, was arrested by the police on May 6 for allegedly damaging a bus of an Akali transporter. The police had arrested 12 students, including Harpreet, and booked them in connection with an attempt-to-murder case under Section 307 of the IPC.
While 11 students, including a girl, are languishing in the Faridkot central jail, Harpreet is in the juvenile home for the past one week.
After he was rushed to the emergency wing of the medical college, Harpreet underwent various tests and ultrasound scan this afternoon. Hospital superintendent JP Singh declined to share information about the problem the child was suffering from.
Rajinder Singh, general secretary, Punjab Students’ Union (PSU), said some other students lodged in the Faridkot jail had also complained of developing complications due to torture. Faridkot SSP Charanjit Singh Sharma, however, denied that the students were beaten up in the police lock-up. Arresting these 12 students has landed the police in a difficult situation. While the students have refused to take bail until the “fake” case against them was not cancelled, political leaders are making a beeline to Faridkot to express solidarity with these students. Former MLA Hardev Arshi reached Faridkot jail to meet these students , but he was not allowed to meet them. Harpreet Singh’s maternal grandmother Balbir Kaur, 80, is also among the accused nominated by the police in the “attempt-to-murder” case.