PHAGWARA: Senior Congress leader and Bholath MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira on Friday strongly condemned the alleged police brutality and use of third-degree torture on Ranjot Singh by the Ludhiana Police, terming the incident deeply shocking, inhuman and a direct assault on the rule of law.
Khaira said the incident exposes an alarming pattern of high-handedness within the Punjab Police under the Aam Aadmi Party government, adding that repeated reports of custodial violence, illegal detentions and alleged fake encounter killings point to a dangerous erosion of democratic norms in the state. He maintained that the alleged torture of Ranjot Singh was not an isolated case but part of a broader culture of repression that has taken root under the Bhagwant Mann-led government.
Warning that Punjab was steadily being pushed towards a police state, Khaira said the misuse of police power to silence citizens and dissenting voices posed a serious threat to fundamental rights. He accused the ruling party of abandoning constitutional values while projecting itself as a champion of transparency and justice.
Taking a sharp dig at the AAP government, Khaira called it deeply hypocritical to publicly display the images and invoke the names of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and Baba Sahib Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, while allegedly allowing police excesses to go unchecked. He said Bhagat Singh stood against state oppression and tyranny, while Dr. Ambedkar framed a Constitution that guarantees fundamental rights and safeguards citizens from abuse of power.