Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], March 24 : Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema has been given additional charge of the Transport Department following the resignation of former minister Laljit Singh Bhullar. Additionally, Ravjot Singh has been assigned the Jails portfolio, according to the state Cabinet PRO.
Bhullar stepped down amid a political controversy linked to the alleged suicide of Gagandeep Singh Randhawa, a District Manager with the Punjab Warehousing Corporation in Amritsar. Randhawa was reportedly subjected to harassment and torture, allegedly involving Bhullar, which led to his death.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had already accepted Bhullar's resignation following the controversy.
CM Mann emphasised that his government maintains zero tolerance for corruption and assured that no bias will be shown in such matters.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Investigation), Amritsar, Ravinder Pal Singh Sandhu, said that Bhullar has been arrested in connection with the suicide case and will be produced before a court on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Punjab Police have registered an FIR naming former Cabinet Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar in connection with the suicide case, officials said. Bhullar's father, Sukhdev Singh Bhullar, and his PA, Dilbagh Singh, have also been booked in the case.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday expressed his readiness to transfer the investigation into the death of Punjab official Gagandeep Singh Randhawa, who was allegedly tortured by former Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar, to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
His statement came after Amritsar Congress MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla raised the issue in the Lok Sabha, demanding a probe into the "wrongdoing" by Bhullar, who has resigned due to the video left by the Punjab Warehousing Corporation (PWC) Officer before he committed suicide, in which he purportedly blamed the minister of harassment.
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