Day on, AAP govt suspends SSP who issued summons to Ashu

AAP leaders claim cop issued summons in collusion with Cong leader to help him gain sympathy ahead of Ludhiana West bypoll

- Tarsem Singh Deogan

LUDHIANA: A day after former cabinet minister and Congress' Ludhiana West candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu received summons in a ₹2,400 crore land misuse case, the Punjab government on Friday suspended the senior superintendent of police — SSP, vigilance Jagatpreet Singh—who had issued the summons.

While the official orders of the Punjab government stated that the SSP was placed under suspension for misconduct and dereliction of duty, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders said he had orchestrated the summons in collusion with Ashu to help the Congress leader gain public sympathy ahead of the bypoll. The high-stakes Ludhiana West bypoll is scheduled for June 19 in which Ashu is pitted against AAP's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora and BJP's Jiwan Gupta among others. As per the summons issued on June 4, Ashu was to appear before the vigilance bureau on Friday; however, the Congress leader cited his busy election schedule for his inability to do so. "I will join the investigation after June 19," he told reporters in Ludhiana.

SSP misused his position, claims AAP AAP minister Tarunpreet Singh Sondh said the SSP was a classmate of Ashu. "The officer misused his position to favour Ashu, and thus has been suspended. Such behaviour will not be tolerated," he said.