Amritsar, May 13: Congress workers led by party legislators OP Soni, Rajkumar Verka and Sukh Sarkaria today courted arrest after a dharna near the residence of state Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi at Medical Enclave here. They demanded that Joshi be arrested for the murderous assault on advocate Vaneet Mahajan and that the “false” attempt to murder case against advocate Sandeep Gorsi be cancelled.
The BJP too staged a counter-protest in Joshi’s support outside his residence. Congress workers gathered in front of Trillium Mall.
They were addressed by party leaders. They walked towards Joshi’s residence but were stopped by the police that had raised barricades.
The Congress workers, who did not want a confrontation, then courted arrest. They were let off after a couple of hours.
Sarkaria said the police had assured them that those involved in attacking Mahajan would be held within three days. He said they had warned the police that if this was not done, the Congress would step up its stir.
Joshi, amid heavy police deployment, addressed BJP protesters despite a non-bailable warrant against him at that time. He was granted bail in the afternoon.
Joshi said he had nothing to do with the attack on Mahajan and that Gorsi and Mahajan had “fabricated charges against him in the past too”, causing him immense mental harassment. He said they had even dragged women members of his family to court.
He termed the charges levelled against him as “baseless.”