Chandigarh: Breaking his silence on the suicide of Sangrur daily-wage labourer Gulzar Singh, Punjab finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Wednesday accused the opposition parties of hatching a conspiracy to frame him and playing “politics over dead bodies”.Replying to a question during a news conference, Cheema said, “There is no controversy…The BJP, the Congress and the Akal Dal are hatching a controversy on how to frame a minister (him). I have enough evidence, and I will present it after the investigation concludes. I will answer every single leader and tell people how these people play politics on dead bodies.”He added, “The high court has commented that a minister cannot be involved on the basis of someone’s statement.”Asked about allegations of heavy police presence at Gulzar Singh’s cremation, Cheema said the media had only shown selected visuals of the cremation. “A section of the media did not show the video of what his family said,” he said.Besides demanding Cheema’s resignation, the opposition parties have also been demanding an independent probe into Gulzar’s death.Gulzar Singh, a 50-year-old Dalit labourer from Toor Banjara village in Sangrur’s Dirba constituency, died by suicide on Sept 8. Before passing away, he allegedly recorded a video statement alleging that local leaders and political pressure drove him to take his own life.Police registered a case under Section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for abetment to suicide and relevant Sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against five individuals, including the village sarpanch.After the incident, govt set up a four-member special investigation team (SIT) to probe the case.
