Chandigarh/Abohar, October 25
Former Punjab BJP President and former Union Minister Vijay Sampla has demanded that provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act be added to the FIR in the Ajay Atwal murder case in Abohar and that Shiv Lal Doda’s name be included in the FIR. Like the family of Parvinder Singh Jhota in Mansa, which has been fighting for justice, the family of Ajay Atwal has also been refusing to allow a post-mortem examination of his body for the past week.
Sampla visited the ongoing protest in Abohar along with MLA Sandeep Jakhar, former and State President SC Morcha MLA Sheetal Anurag, District President BJP Fazilka Sukhwinder Singh Kaka Kamboj and Mukatsar District President Kuldeep Singh Bhangewala
Addressing the protesters, Sampla warned Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, saying, “The government must stop shielding the actual culprits in the Ajay Atwal case in Abohar and take appropriate action against Shiv Lal Doda as well. Just as people are mobilising for justice for Parvinder Singh Jhota in Mansa and Ajay Atwal in Abohar, the movement will spread across Punjab if the government fails to deliver justice.”
Sampla said it was no secret that Ajay Atwal was a witness in the 2015 Bhim Tank murder case, for which Shiv Lal Doda is serving a life sentence. He added that the BJP had fought for justice for the family of Bhim Tank at that time and would not allow injustice to be done to Ajay Atwal’s family now.
Sampla reminded Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann that they had previously assured Bhim Tank’s family of justice and promised a government job to a family member under the Delhi government. “Instead of standing by the family, you did not even extend a helping hand to them; you allied with Shiv Lal Doda, the man convicted of Bhim Tank’s murder. Now, you are siding with the same oppressor,” he alleged.
Sampla said the patience of the Dalit community should not be tested. If justice was not delivered to Ajay’s family, he warned, the protest would turn into a statewide movement across Punjab.