Overview
- Punjab Police say the former minister’s father and personal assistant named in the FIR have not been arrested, and investigators have yet to obtain the deceased official’s mobile phone that they consider crucial evidence.
- Gagandeep Singh Randhawa, a Punjab State Warehousing Corporation manager, died by suicide on March 21 after a video surfaced in which he accused then transport minister and Patti MLA Laljit Singh Bhullar of harassment.
- Bhullar resigned at the chief minister’s urging, was arrested in Mandi Gobindgarh, and was sent to police remand after a March 24 court appearance.
- BJP leaders met Governor Gulab Chand Kataria to seek a Central Bureau of Investigation probe, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah told Punjab MPs he would transfer the case to the CBI if formally requested.
- Political fault lines have widened as Congress figures split over seeking a CBI transfer or judicial monitoring, BJP leaders press for security for Randhawa’s family, and Akali Dal’s Harsimrat Kaur Badal accused Congress and AAP of trying to block a central probe.