Ownership of bus will not affect probe: Sukhbir

Under fire over the death of a teenage girl after being shoved out of a moving bus of a company owned by him, Punjab’s Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Friday said it was “absurd to think” that such a brutality will go unpunished due to ownership of the vehicle.

Referring to the ownership of the company, Mr. Badal said that the fact only adds to his responsibility.

“It is absurd even to think that the company’s ownership will allow such brutality and brazenness to go unpunished me,” he said.

Mr. Badal, who is also the State Home Minister, said: “I am deeply anguished over the incident, the more so because of the bus in which it happened.”

A Dalit woman and her teenage daughter were allegedly molested and thrown out of a running bus belonging to the ruling Badal family in Punjab, leaving the girl dead and mother seriously wounded and triggering up a political storm.

The shocking incident occurred on April 29 close to Gill village on Moga-Kotkapura road, about 10 km from Moga district headquarters, and four persons including the driver, cleaner and conductor of the bus have been arrested.

Meanwhile, the Punjab government on Friday set up a high-level committee headed by the state Chief Secretary, Sarvesh Kaushal, to suggest ways to ensure complete safety and security to commuters in public transport.

The Deputy Chief Minister on Friday expressed grief over the tragic incident.

“I am with the grieving family in their hour of extreme sorrow and want to assure them that those responsible for bringing this tragedy upon them will be given exemplary punishment under the law of the land,” Mr. Badal said in a statement issued here. - PTI