Punjab: Arrested IAS officer's son dies of bullet wound, cops say suicide; family alleges foul play
Chandigarh, Jun 25: A 27-year-old son of IAS officer Sanjay Popli, who was arrested in a graft case, died of bullet wound here on Saturday, with police saying he committed suicide but family alleging foul play.
A Vigilance Bureau team had come to the officer's house in connection with the investigation of the case against him and they were present there when the incident took place, a neighbour told reporters.
However, a Vigilance Bureau official said they had left the house before the incident took place.
The Punjab Vigilance Bureau had earlier this week arrested IAS officer Sanjay Popli in a graft case for allegedly demanding bribe in exchange of clearing tenders for laying a sewerage pipeline in Nawanshahr.
Chandigarh's Senior Superintendent of Police Kuldeep Singh Chahal said after verifying things it has come to the fore that the 27-year-old "shot himself".
Further investigations are on, the SSP said, adding a licensed pistol was used in the incident.
An inconsolable Sanjay Popli's wife told reporters, "The Vigilance officials were pressuring us and they were even torturing my domestic help to give false statements in support of the case they have registered. My 27-year-old son is gone. He was a brilliant lawyer. They have snatched him".
"To build a false case, they snatched my son--Kartik Popli is gone," said Sanjay Popli's wife showing blood spots of his son on her hands.
"I will not wash these hands till we get justice. I want justice. I will move court," said the wailing woman, repeatedly crying "my son has been killed".
"(Punjab Chief Minister) Bhagwant Mann should answer," she said.
She claimed that the Vigilance officials took Kartik upstairs.
"When I went up they were mentally torturing my son," she said, adding "even our mobile phones were snatched".
A 51-year-old woman, a neighbour and family friend, alleged that "Sanjay Popli was being pressured by the Vigilance that he should agree to the allegations levelled by them".
"Kartik Popli too was detained for hours," said the woman.
On the other hand, Vigilance Bureau DSP Ajay Kumar told reporters, "We had returned from their house after making some recoveries. We had returned with the accused."
"Who all were part of our team, that details have been given in the Sector 11 police station here," he said.
When asked that the family is alleging foul play, he said these are baseless allegations.
"Our recovery point was not inside the house, it was in the premises. None of our team member went inside," he said.
He also denied the family's allegation that some team members manhandled them.
An official statement quoting a Vigilance Bureau spokesperson said they recovered over 12 kg of gold, 3 kg of silver, five high-end mobile phones, two smart watches from the storeroom of Popli's house at Sector 11, Chandigarh.
The recovery included nine gold bricks, each weighing 1 kg, 49 gold biscuits, 12 gold coins and three silver bricks weighing 1 kg each, said the spokeperson.
The spokesperson said these were concealed in the storeroom of his house.
Meanwhile, the Congress hit out at the AAP government over the death of Popli's son, with party's state unit chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring saying, "Making law takes its own course & dramatising the process for vested interests that cost a precious life is unpardonable..Who will bring back Kartik?."
"Shocking! Profound condolences & sympathies for Sanjay Popli who lost his son Kartik under tragic circumstances," Warring tweeted. The Aam Aadmi Party expressed condolences over the death of Kartik, with party spokesperson Malwinder Singh Kang saying, "We are all deeply saddened to hear about the suicide of Sanjay Popli's son".
Kang said "during Vigilance raids, gold, silver and cash worth crores of rupees were recovered from Popli's house".
"The corruption of IAS officer Sanjay Popli had a bad effect on his son. All corrupt people need to learn a lesson from this incident that corruption is ruining their families," said Kang, according to an AAP statement.
Kang slammed the opposition for "standing in favour of a corrupt person" and said they should not do politics on this matter.
#WATCH | Chandigarh: "They tortured my child & killed him. They tortured my domestic help for evidence. Entire vigilance bureau & the DSP are under the pressure from CM. This is the way they are killing people," said mother of Kartik Popli who died of a gunshot wound in the head pic.twitter.com/EHlApYFUxM
— ANI (@ANI) June 25, 2022
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UDF leaders see local body poll trends as pointer to 2026 Assembly elections in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Buoyed by the strong performance of the Congress-led UDF in the local body polls, KPCC president Sunny Joseph said on Saturday that the front's results indicated the people had rejected the LDF government.
According to early trends, the UDF was leading in more grama panchayats, block panchayats, municipalities and corporations than the LDF.
The local body polls were held in two phases in the state earlier this week.
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Speaking to reporters here, Joseph said the people of Kerala had extended their support to the UDF.
"We could expose the LDF government’s anti-people stance and the people understood it. The LDF’s fake propaganda was rejected by the people. The UDF is moving towards a historic victory," he said.
He said a united effort, proper preparations, good candidate selection and hard work had resulted in the Congress and the UDF’s victory in the elections.
Asked about the prospects in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, Joseph said the party was studying the matter and would comment later.
LDF convenor T P Ramakrishnan said the results would be closely examined.
According to him, the government had done everything possible for the people.
"Why such a verdict happened will be examined at the micro level. People’s opinion will be considered and further steps will be taken," he said.
He added that decisions would be taken after analysing the results. "If any corrective measures are required, we will initiate them and move forward," he said.
AICC leader K C Venugopal said the results showed that people had begun ousting those who, he alleged, were responsible for the loss of gold at Lord Ayyappa’s temple.
"This trend will continue in the Assembly elections as well. It is an indication that the people are ready to bring down the LDF government," he said.
Venugopal said the UDF had registered victories even in CPI(M) and LDF strongholds.
"I congratulate all UDF workers for their hard work. Congress workers and leaders worked unitedly," he said.
Referring to remarks made by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan against the Congress on polling day, Venugopal said the voters had responded through the verdict.
"I do not know whether the chief minister understands that the people are against him. Otherwise, he does not know the sentiment of the people. The state government cannot move an inch further," he said.
He said the results indicated a strong comeback for the UDF in Kerala.
Asked whether the Sabarimala gold loss issue had affected the LDF in the local polls, Venugopal said the CM and the CPI(M) state secretary did not take the issue seriously.
"We took a strong stand on the matter. The BJP played a foul game in it," he alleged.
On the BJP's role in the local body elections, Venugopal alleged that the party operated with the CPI(M) 's tacit support.
"The CPI(M) supported the central government on issues such as PM-SHRI, labour codes and corruption in national highway construction. The CPI(M) is facing ideological decline, and the state government’s policies are against the party’s own decisions," he said.
Meanwhile, LDF ally Kerala Congress (M) leader Jose K Mani said the party could not win all the wards it had expected in the elections.
He congratulated winners from all parties and said the party would closely examine the losses and identify shortcomings. "Later, we will take corrective measures," he added.
Senior Congress leader and MP Rajmohan Unnithan said the trends in the local body elections indicated that the UDF would return to power in the 2026 Assembly elections.
"We will win 111 seats as in 1977 and return to power in 2026. The anti-government sentiment of the people is reflected in the elections," he said.
Unnithan said the people were disturbed and unhappy with the present government.
"The trend indicates the end of the LDF government," he added.
CPI(M) MLA M M Mani said the people had shown ingratitude towards the LDF despite benefiting from welfare schemes.
"After receiving all welfare schemes and living comfortably, people voted against us due to some temporary sentiments. Is that not ingratitude," he asked.
Mani said no such welfare initiatives had taken place in Kerala earlier.
"People are receiving pensions and have enough to eat. Even after getting all this, they voted against us. This is what can be called ingratitude," he said.
Muslim League state president Panakkad Sayyid Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal said the results were beyond expectations.
"The outcome points towards the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram, indicating that a change of government is imminent. We are going to win the Assembly election," he said.
