Following the intervention by Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit and notice by the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, Punjab Government on Monday constituted a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into the complaint regarding alleged sexual misconduct by ‘victim’ against the Cabinet Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak.
 
The SIT, to be headed by Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Border Range-Amritsar, Narinder Bhargav, will probe the complaint filed by a Gurdaspur-based victim to the national SC panel alleging sexual misconduct over the years by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Kataruchak, besides the threat to life from him.
 
Gurdaspur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dayama Harish Kumar Omprakash and Pathankot SSP Harkamalpreet Singh Khakh are the other members of the SIT.
 
As per the orders issued by the Punjab Police’s Bureau of Investigation (BoI) director, the SIT has also been directed to provide security to the victim-complainant.
 
In response to the notice issued by the national SC panel to the Punjab DGP on May 5, the NCSC has been informed about the formation of the SIT in the form of an interim reply.
 
“SIT shall render complete assistance and support to the Commission in investigation or inquiry into the matter,” read the order, the copy of which has also been sent to the NCSC and the office of Punjab Governor.
 
The order stated that the SIT shall get in touch with the victim-complainant for further necessary action in the matter.
 
The alleged “sexual abuse victim”, on May 5, submitted a complaint with the panel accusing Punjab’s Food and Civil Supplies Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak of first befriending him and then sexually exploiting him on the promise of a government job on becoming an MLA.
 
Taking serious note, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) issued notice to Punjab Government, through the Chief Secretary as well as the DGP, asking the officials concerned to submit an action taken report “immediately”. The Commission had also asked the officials to provide security to the victim.
 
The victim, belonging to the Scheduled Caste community, in his complaint to the NCSC had submitted, “Kataruchak had approached me by sending a friend request on Facebook in 2013-14 and when he accepted it, Kataruchak allegedly started making advances. Since he was an influential person, he had promised me a government job due to which I remained mum. I was too young at that time to understand anything. But, his sexual excesses continued till 2021. However, he met me for the last time on Diwali in 2021 and he neither provided me with a job nor he met me after that”.
 
The issue was first raised by the Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira, who had on May 1, submitted a complaint with two “highly objectionable” videos to the Governor seeking its forensic verification. The Governor had then handed over the complaint and the videos to the Chandigarh DGP to get its forensic examination done.
 
Governor Purohit had, on May 6, forwarded the forensic report of the purported objectionable video of the Cabinet Minister, which cleared that the video was not morphed, to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for further action against Kataruchak.
 
At the same time, the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had backed his Minister, asserting that he had not received any such videos. At the same time, he lashed out at the Opposition, especially Khaira, BJP’s Manjinder Singh Sirsa, and SAD’s Bikram Majithia, for making “baseless” allegations just for the sake of speaking against the Government.
 
Sirsa, last week, had tweeted a part of the video, in which the alleged “victim” claimed that he was on the run now fearing the Minister would harm him or his family.
 
Coming on camera, the “victim”, who identified him as Pathankot-resident, had claimed that it was he who was shown in the video that was handed over to the Governor by Congress leader Khaira. In the video, he had also alleged that he had been subjected to sexual misconduct by Kataruchak when “I was very young” — from 2013 to 2014, which continued till 2021.
 
Giving details, he had alleged that Kataruchak had approached him by sending a friend request on the social networking website, Facebook, in 2013-14. When he accepted it, Kataruchak allegedly started making advances towards him, and later asked to have a relationship with him.
 
“I was too young at that time to understand anything…Later, Kataruchak called me to Gurdaspur…I refused saying that I don’t have enough money. He promised me that he will give me money once I come to meet him at Gurdaspur…He picked me from the bus stand and took me to his office for his sexual excesses,” said the man in the video.
 
The “victim” also added that he met Kataruchak for the last time on Diwali in 2021. “He then promised me a government job stating that he would become an MLA soon. After that he did not meet me and asked me not to approach him,” the “victim” alleged.