Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Monday demanded that Punjab Revenue Minister Gurpreet Singh Kangar and Faridkot legislator Kushaldeep Singh Kiki Dhillon be booked for murder of the former Sarpanch of Behbal Kalan following disclosures by the victim’s family that the Congress leaders had caused the death of the prime witness in the Behbal Kalan police firing case.

“The family of former Sarpanch Surjit Singh has made it clear that the two Congress leaders were responsible for the death of the Sarpanch and that they misused the police as well as the Electricity Department to force him not to give witness against police personnel who fired and killed innocent Sikhs protesters at Behbal Kalan in Faridkot district in 2015,” said SAD spokesperson Parambans Singh Romana.

The party demanded an independent probe into Surjit Singh’s death and prompt dismissal of the police personnel who threatened and harassed him besides registration of a criminal case against both Kangar and Dhillon.

“Gurpreet Kangar should be thrown out of the State ministry also for conspiring to eliminate the lone witness in the Behbal Kalan firing case,” he said.

Condemning the heinous conduct of both Kangar and Dhillon, which he also termed as inhuman, Romana asked the Congress led Punjab Government to act immediately and register a case under Section 302 Code of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) against both of them.

The two Congress leaders should also be arrested and interrogated to expose the conspiracy behind Surjit’s death, he added.

Romana said that Gurpreet Kangar, who then held the Power portfolio, was accused by the victim family with sending repeated teams to Surjit’s house to check his electricity load and imposing an unjust fine of Rs 55,000 on the family.

He said that Kangar’s complicity in the conspiracy to silence Surjit could also be seen from the fact that when Surjit approached the Minister, he threw him out of his office. “Kushaldeep Dhillon’s men also continued to harass Surjit and appeals to the Faridkot SSP fell on deaf ears due to pressure being wielded on the officer by the two Congress leaders,” he added.

SAD leader said that at the village level, Bargari police station in-charge threatened Surjit’s wife with physical harm when she protested against the injustice being meted out to her husband. “All this proves that the Congress leaders were trying to protect the police personnel responsible for firing on innocent Sikhs,” he said.

He said that Surjit’s plight was such that an hour before his death he told his wife that his decision to give witness against police personnel had ruined his family.

“The recent events have proved SAD’s contention that the Congress party is only interested in doing politics on the issue of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib. It is now clear that the Congress is least interested in exposing and bringing the culprits behind this heinous crime to book,” he said.

SAD demands an inquiry by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court to fulfill the Sikh community’s quest for justice in the case, he demanded.