DW BUREAU / CHANDIGARH

The Youth Akali Dal (YAD) today held a massive dharna and broke police barricades and marched to chief minister Bhagwant Mann's residence here to demand the dismissal of education minister Harjot Bains and suspension of his IPS wife Jyoti Yadav in the Rs 100 crore cyber crime scam.

The youth activists, who were led by YAD president Sarabjeet Singh Jhinjher, were taken into preventive custody even as the chief minister refused to meet the youth.

Speaking on the occasion, the YAD president said "we have made it clear that the SIT, which has been established to probe the Rs 100 crore cyber scam in which serious aspersions have been cast against Harjot Bains and his wife Jyoti Yadav, is an eye wash. No police officer of the State can probe the role of a minister. We have demanded that the government institute a high court monitored probe into the case as well as an Enforcement Directorate (ED) inquiry to ascertain money laundering allegations". Asserting that the activists were forced to take out the march as the chief minister was not taking any action in the case, Mr Jhinjher said "in case the government continues to shield Harjot Bains and his wife the YAD will 'gherao' the chief minister and all ministers during their officials tours in Punjab".

Stating that the chief minister was running away from facing the youth of Punjab, Mr Jhinjher said "we are not terrorists. We have come to your door to demand due action in the Rs 100 crore cyber scam. We have also come to tell you how the youth are dying every day due to drug overdose and how your ministers and legislators are in league with drug smugglers and preventing the police from taking action against the drug mafia. We have come to tell you about the massive unemployment in the State and how you have failed the youth by not doing any recruitment. We have also come to tell you about the poor financial condition of the State due to which development has come to a halt. We want to highlight the plight of farmers who are not getting compensation for crop damages even as VAT on diesel is being hiked consistently". With police personnel not letting the YAD activists from approaching the chief minister's main gate, they tried to break the police cordon and even sat down on the road and raised slogans against the AAP government and chief minister Bhagwant Mann.
(editor@dailyworld.in)