The Patiala police Sunday booked BJP leader Harwinder Singh Harpalpur for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, a day after 50-year-old farmer Surinderpal Singh died while allegedly protesting against BJP candidate Preneet Kaur at Sehra village near Rajpura in Patiala.
On Saturday, 55-year-old woman farmer Balwinder Kaur died of cardiac arrest at Shambhu railway station during the farmers’ rail roko protest demanding release of three of their fellow men who were arrested during the February ‘Dilli Chalo’ agitation.
The police booked Harwinder Singh Harpalpur, nephew of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Prem Singh Chandumajra, and two unidentified persons under Section 304 of IPC.
Even after registering the FIR, the stalemate continued between the farmers’ outfits which wanted the state to assure a government job to the next of kin of Surinderpal Singh. The farmer leaders also did not allow the authorities to conduct the postmortem.
Meanwhile, two rounds of meeting on Sunday between Patiala range DIG Harcharan Singh Bhullar, SSP Varun Sharma and farmer leaders remained inconclusive.
On Sunday, Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) coordinator Sarwan Singh Pandher aid that they wanted the police to give a deadline – as to when they would arrest Harwinder Singh Harpalpur.
“But they failed to give us a deadline. We have now given two days’ ultimatum to the police,” Pandher said.