Families of arrested youth met Jathedar Akal Takht for intervention

Amritsar, June 16 – Family members of eleven youth arrested by the city police in connection with clash between the Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) task force, and activists of radical Sikh outfits appeared before the Police Commissioner today and claimed that their wards were framed in the case as they were not present on the Golden Temple premises on June 6.

The Police Commissioner, Jatinder Singh Aulakh, assured them of impartial probe and said justice would prevail.

Led by Aam Admi Party leader HS Phoolka, family members of the youth asked Jathedar to intervene in the matter as those youth were not involved in the clash.

Jathedar reportedly assured the families that he would take up the matter with the authorities.

In a memorandum submitted to Aulakh they alleged that their wards were picked from Ram Bagh area and later their names were included in the case. They alleged that there was no truth in the claims of the police, which they said had falsely implicated their wards in the case. They said that the CCTV footage of the Golden Temple premises and photographs clicked by the media substantiate that their kin were not involved in the incident in any way. They were caught by the police and sent them to judicial remand without any crime and fault of theirs, alleged the parents. They urged Aulakh to hold an impartial investigation in the case and release their wards.

Aulakh said the matter was brought to his notice and he would hold an impartial probe in the case and justice would be done with the families, which appeared before him.

Meanwhile, Dal Khalsa spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh said parents and relatives of the two youth, who were in judicial custody in connection with Golden Temple clash met him two days back. They were of the view that their wards were not involved in the clash. They were wrongly implicated in the case as they were arrested from the Ram Bagh locality when they were urging shopkeepers to close their shops in view of the Amritsar bandh call given by the Dal Khalsa, said the parents.

He urged the Police Commissioner to have a re-look in the case and assure that none of the innocent was wrongly confined due to police negligence or wrong-doing.

He pointed out that SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar and SAD (A) president Simranjit Singh Mann were responsible for the violation of the sanctity. They should own responsibility for the incident and seek apology from the Panth and close the painful and shameful chapter, added Kanwar Pal.