A viral video of the incident has sparked a political row in the state, with opposition parties questioning alleged corruption in the government system. Police have, however, presented a different version of the circumstances leading to the incident. A man allegedly consumed poison at a police station in Punjab’s Barnala district after visiting it to collect a report related to his car, which caught fire on September 11.
The man accused the police station clerk, Station House Officer (SHO) and an administrative officer of harassing him and alleged that Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 was being demanded for the report.
Police said that a report on the car fire was entered in the daily diary on Wednesday. Congress leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa raised the matter on social media, while Shiromani Akali Dal leaders demanded a high-level inquiry into the incident. The conflicting versions have put the focus on the man’s allegations in the viral video and the police’s claim that family property-related stress was behind his actions.
In the viral video, the man, identified as Jobanpreet Singh, alleged that he had been making rounds of Barnala’s Dhanaula police station for around 17 days to obtain the report. He accused the police station clerk, Station House Officer (SHO) and an administrative officer of harassing him and alleged that Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 was being demanded for the report.
The police investigation indicated that Jobanpreet had been under mental stress and that a family property dispute was being cited as the reason, according to the DSP.
