Punjab minister resigns after link to suicide case; rejects ‘false, baseless’ allegations

PUnjab ship and jails authorities minister Laljit Singh Bhullar on sabbatum resigned from the Aam Aadmi company (AAP) government on Saturday, a day after his name surfaced in a controversy linked to the alleged suicide of a state warehousing corporation official in Amritsar.The minister stepped down after chief minister Bhagwant Mann sought his resignation, with Bhullar saying he took the decision to facilitate a fair inquiry into the case.On Friday, a district manager of the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation allegedly died by suicide after consuming a poisonous substance at his residence in Amritsar. Prior to his death, a video of the official surfaced on social media, in which he claimed he had taken the step out of fear of Bhullar.‘Kha layi poison…’“Kha layi (poison) thuade yaar ne minister Laljit Bhullar de dar ton, hun ni bachda (Your friend has consumed poison due to fear of minister Laljit Bhullar, I won’t survive now),” the official purportedly said in the video. HT could not independently verify authenticity of the video.ALSO READ | Patti MLA Laljit Singh Bhullar’s political rise and controversiesIn the letters written by the official to his senior officers, that were made public by Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Majithia, the deceased official purportedly accused Bhullar of pressuring him to award a warehousing tender to the minister’s aide Sukhdev Singh Bhullar (minister’s father). In the letters, the official alleged that when he refused, he was summoned to the minister’s residence on March 13 in his office in Patti and was assaulted, and coerced into recording a “confession” claiming he had accepted a ₹10-lakh bribe, which he said was intended to be used to blackmail him. No FIR has been registered in the case yet.Resignation accepted to ensure fair probeOn Saturday, Bhullar resigned from his post as state minister, even as he termed the allegations “baseless and false”. “Our party has always stood for truth. I request my party and the CM to accept my resignation so that my position does not become an obstacle in ensuring a fair inquiry. I want the truth to come out,” he said.ALSO READ | DM’s suicide: Opposition targets AAP govt, seeks FIR against ex-minister Laljit Singh BhullarCM Mann described the incident as “very sad and painful”.“Whatever I could do, I have done. I immediately sought the minister’s resignation, and we will give charge of his department to another minister,” he said. “To ensure the investigation into the suicide is not compromised, we have accepted the resignation. We stand with the family in this difficult time.”Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly Partap Singh Bajwa said the case should be handed over to the CBI. “My first demand is that a case of murder should be registered, Laljit Singh Bhullar should be arrested, and then the case should be handed over to the CBI for investigation,” the Congress leader said.Meanwhile, the family of the deceased has refused to perform the last rites until a case is registered against Bhullar.Maternal uncle of the deceased said, “He was deeply scared after the then Minister issued threats to him...”