👉🏻 BJP demands justice for Sangrur family, says police cremated Dalit youth without family consent

👉🏻 Punjab government “turned blind eye”; police is acting on orders of minister Aman Arora: Kewal Singh Dhillon

👉🏻 Police has taken my mother away and we were not allowed to witness final rites: Victim’s brother

👉🏻 We continue to demand action against the sarpanch, case against him under SC/ST Act: Victim family

Chandigarh, October 2:The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Punjab on Friday demanded justice for the family of Sanamdeep Singh, a 23-year-old Dalit youth from Kanoi village in Sangrur, who died by suicide on September 26, and said that the Punjab Police cremated his body without the consent or presence of his family members.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP state headquarters in Chandigarh, along with the victim family, Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon alleged that the incident clearly shows the deteriorating law-and-order situation in Punjab and that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government failed to protect the rights of Dalit families. Punjab BJP State Media Head Vineet Joshi and bjp Sangrur district President Daman Bajwa was also present at the press conference. Members of the affected family, including Sanamdeep Singh’s brother Ravi Singh, father Paramjeet Singh and cousin Vikramjeet Singh, shared their account of the events.

“Punjab is presently going through a very difficult situation. We are receiving regular complaints of atrocities and discrimination against Dalits under the AAP government. Even when Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann belongs to Sangrur, such incidents continue to be reported from the district. The law-and-order situation has deteriorated to such an extent that even the cremation of a victim was not allowed to take place in his own village and in the presence of his family members. The police cremated the body in the absence of the family, without their consent, and even kidnapped the victim’s mother. The police is acting on the pressure of AAP minister Aman Arora, who is close to the Sarpanch,” Dhillon said.

“BJP is demanding justice for the affected family as the Punjab government had “turned a blind eye” to the matter. We have even urged senior police authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident and also sought information regarding the whereabouts of the victim’s mother and demanded that she be brought back to the family”, Dhillon said.

What Victim Family said:
According to the victim family, Sanamdeep, a stone mason, had an old dispute with the village sarpanch, who is associated with the AAP. The family said that Sanamdeep consumed a poisonous substance at his home following continued pressure and harassment linked to the dispute. He subsequently died while undergoing treatment at Sangrur Civil Hospital.

Vikramjeet Singh, while addressing the conference, said, “The dispute with the sarpanch dates back to 2019, when Ravi's mobile phone had fallen near the sarpanch. When he approached the sarpanch for the phone, he used derogatory remarks and did physical assault. Instead of taking action against the sarpanch, the police later booked seven members of our family in another case, which was an attempt to pressure us into withdrawing the earlier complaint. Sanamdeep also spent some time in jail in connection with the case.”

“We had kept Sanamdeep’s body at the hospital mortuary for five days while peacefully protesting and demanding action against the sarpanch and registration of appropriate charges, including provisions under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. However, the Sangrur police initially refused to record our statement for two days and kept asking us to provide proof. Later, the police cremated our brother without our permission and in the absence of our family members. They did not even allow us to see our brother,” The victim family said.

Ravi Singh also said that the police had taken his mother away and that the family had not been allowed to witness the final rites.

Dhillon said the BJP would continue to raise the matter with the appropriate authorities and demanded that the circumstances surrounding Sanamdeep Singh’s death, the handling of his body and the subsequent cremation be independently investigated.