Former CM livid at Khurana’s remark, goes to high command

NEW DELHI, November 12: A furious Sahib Singh Verma today complained to the party high command about a statement made by Union Parliamentary...

NEW DELHI, November 12: A furious Sahib Singh Verma today complained to the party high command about a statement made by Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Madan Lal Khurana yesterday. He accused Khurana of indirectly holding him responsible for pre-poll violence. “A leader of his stature should not have made such comments about his own colleague in public,” said Sahib Singh. He added: “Sahib Singh speaks the truth and my God is with me.”

Khurana had been the first to comment on the murder. He had said: “This kind of violence happens in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. But such an incident in Delhi makes me hang my head in shame.” He had also said the murder wasn’t surprisng given “the kind of elements being encouraged in the past few years.”

The former chief minister also denied that he had offered slain Samata Party candidate Ved Singh’s family Rs 30 lakh. The money, according to the family, was offered as an incentive to them for stopping Ved Singh from testifying in a case against Sahib Singh’s nephews Pawan and Neeraj Lakra.

The police are investigating the property dispute and gang-war violence angles of the Ved Singh murder, they are also looking into the possible involvement of the former CM’s younger brother Azad Singh.

Ved Singh was the main eyewitness in the murder case against Sahib Singh’s nephews, currently in judicial custody. Of the three witnesses in the case which is being heard in the court of Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Raghbir Singh two (Aman Singh and Kuldeep) are also in jail. The ex-CM’s nephews have been accused of killing Kallu Pehalwan in November 1997.

The family said that Ved Singh asked for a BJP ticket for the Assembly elections in lieu of the money. However, when Sahib Singh was unable to deliver, Ved Singh first decided to contest as an independent candidate and then got a Samata Party ticket.

The trial which was supposed to start on July 22 has not yet begun. The ASJ is still hearing the recording of evidence, and Ved Singh had deposed in court on November 3. Dharmendra Singh, the brother of one of the witnesses, said: “That day all of us were in court, even Master Azad was there. He walked up to me and said that I should persuade Laloo (Ved Singh) not to testify in this case, or it wouldn’t be good for him.” The case will next be heard on December 15.

Story continues below this ad

Dharmendra is convinced that the murder was committed at Azad Singh’s behest “as nothing in this village happens without his knowledge or consent. And something like this requires a lot of planning.”

While Ved Singh’s family is keen to propagate this theory, they admit that Sahib Singh’s former right-hand man had fallen out with his mentor after the murder last year. “Things have been very bad since then. Azad Singh’s men have been trying to persuade us to stay away from this case. There were several secret meetings with Sahib Singh,” said Ved Singh’s older brother Om Prakash. The victim’s family admitted that Ved Singh was close not only to Sahib Singh but also to Azad Singh, who also had a share in his property business.

In a related development, the family complained that they still haven’t received a copy of the FIR. They even claimed that police hadn’t questioned any of them. The Nangloi police have denied this, saying that they went to the family four times yesterday. “They have been found to be very unreliable,” said one official.

Ved Singh’s father Chaudhary Bhim Singh said he wouldn’t cooperate with the police as he wants a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe. The FIR was filed under Sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code by the inspector of the PCR van the first to reach the spot.

Story continues below this ad

The Joint Commissioner (Southern Range) is heading the 100-member team which will probe the murder.

In another related development, Delhi Transport Minister and BJP candidate from Nangloi Jat Davinder Singh Shaukeen today said: “All allegations that I had a hand in the killing are baseless. There is a conspiracy, which should be investigated properly,” says Shaukeen, who is planning to join his mentor Sahib Singh Verma’s fast-till-the-culprits-are caught’.

He claims slain Samata Party candidate Ved Singh had pledged on Sunday to withdraw from the contest in his favour, but “something or someone forced him to change his mind”. The two Left parties and the Congress today condemned the killing of the Samata Party candidate. They accused the BJP of resorting to election violence in the face of defeat.

Congress spokesperson Mani Shankar Aiyar in a statement said that the basic cause of this tragedy is the atmosphere of violence and hate generated by the BJP Government in Delhi. Party leader Jag Parvesh Chandra said today that the election in Nangloi Jat should be countermanded. He said: “It is very likely that the violence can spread to other areas of the constituency because of tension in Nangloi Jat.”