Official's suicide: Former Punjab minister Bhullar, his father, among 3 booked
Chandigarh (PTI): Police have booked former Punjab minister Laljit Singh Bhullar in connection with the suicide of a state warehousing corporation official, officials said on Sunday.
Gagandeep Singh Randhawa, the district manager of the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation in Amritsar, allegedly took his own life by consuming a poisonous substance on Saturday.
The police also booked Bhullar's father, Sukhdev Singh Bhullar, and personal assistant Dilbag Singh.
The FIR has been registered under sections 108 (abetment of suicide), 351 (3) (criminal intimidation) and 3 (5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The case was registered on a complaint of Randhawa's wife, Upinder Kaur, at Ranjit Avenue Police Station in Amritsar on Saturday night.
On Saturday, Bhullar tendered his resignation from the state cabinet after Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann asked him to step down amid allegations of abetment of suicide.
A video surfaced on social media on Saturday in which Randhawa, who held the additional charge of Patti, was purportedly heard saying that he had consumed Celphos and accused the transport minister of harassment.
"Kha layi 'celphos' tuhade yaar ne. Minister Laljit Bhullar de dar ton. Hun nahi main bachda," (Your friend has eaten Celphos because of fear of minister Laljit Bhullar. I will not survive now)," Randhawa says.
Bhullar, the MLA from Patti in Tarn Taran, rejected allegations against him as baseless.
Earlier, Mann said he had directed the chief secretary to conduct an impartial probe into the matter and asked the minister to step down for a fair probe.
No negligence would be tolerated in the matter, Mann had said, adding Bhullar's portfolios of transport and prison would be allocated to some other minister.
As the video surfaced online, the opposition party leaders slammed the AAP government and demanded action against Bhullar.
They accused Bhullar of pressuring Randhawa to allot a warehouse tender to his father.
Bhullar was also accused of making a video of Randhawa and forcing him to admit to accepting a Rs 10-lakh bribe from another party.
An allegation stated that on March 13, Randhawa was called to Bhullar's place, where he was assaulted and humiliated.
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Lebanon appoints new representative for talks with Israel, rejects linkage to Iran
Beirut: Lebanon’s has moved to underline its independent position in ongoing regional developments, amid attempts to link the country to the broader conflict involving Iran, the United States and Israel.
President Joseph Aoun, while announcing the appointment of former US ambassador Simon Karam as Lebanon’s representative in talks with Israel, made it clear that Karam would be the sole representative for Lebanon and that there would be no substitute.
The move comes in response to what the Lebanese officials see as efforts by Iran to tie Lebanon’s situation to the wider regional conflict. Iran had indicated that there would be no ceasefire involving the US, Israel and Iran unless it also included a ceasefire in Lebanon.
Some groups, including Hezbollah and its supporters, had expressed support for linking the situations, citing concerns that the Lebanese government has limited leverage in negotiations with Israel. Lebanon is not formally a party to the conflict, and its army is considered weak.
However, others, including Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, have opposed this approach. They view Iran’s stance as an attempt to influence Lebanon’s internal affairs and see it as undermining the country’s sovereignty.
Officials backing the government’s position say the move is aimed at reaffirming Lebanon’s sovereignty and ensuring that decisions about peace and ceasefire within the country are not dictated externally.
They also see it as a safeguard, so that any breakdown in talks between the US, Israel and Iran does not automatically lead to renewed conflict in Lebanon.
