Ludhiana police have registered a case against BJP councillor Gauravjeet Singh Gora, party leader Jatinder Goriyan, and 11 others for allegedly making misleading and indecent remarks against the head of Maa Baglamukhi Dham temple, Parveen Chaudhary. The action was taken on the orders of the Commissioner of Police (CP) following a complaint by Tarun Chaudhary, authorised representative of Maa Baglamukhi Dham Trust.
Details of the FIR
The FIR, lodged late Thursday night at Police Division 5, names Asha Bhola, Laveen Tangri, Raveena Malhotra, Janak Rani Malhotra, Sachin Malhotra, Sakshi Bahubal, Pankaj Kapoor, Saurav Kapoor, Mehak Malhotra, Meenakshi Malhotra, and Shiv Malhotra as accused. The suspects are yet to be arrested.
Background of the Dispute
According to police, the dispute stems from a clothing transaction between the families of Pratik Tandon and Sahil Malhotra. Tandon, who serves at the Maa Baglamukhi Dham temple, filed a fraud case against Sahil Malhotra, Meenakshi Malhotra, and Praduman Malhotra at Daresi police station. When they were brought in, an altercation led to another FIR against Tandon.
The suspects mistakenly believed that the trust and the mahant were helping Tandon in the case, and that police acted strictly at the mahant's behest. This grudge led them to conspire against the temple head.
Protest and Allegations
On June 9, the suspects gathered a crowd and staged a protest outside the CP's office, blocking traffic and raising slogans against the mahant. They made indecent and misleading remarks on social media and news channels, levelling serious allegations that the temple head demanded a ransom of Rs 3 crore and accepted a 12-tola gold bracelet as a bribe in a business dispute.
Police Investigation Finds Allegations Baseless
A high-level investigation ordered by the CP was conducted by ADCP Vaibhav Sehgal and ACP Harshpreet Singh. They found the allegations to be baseless, leading to the registration of the FIR. Jatinder Goriyan had claimed the mahant demanded Rs 3 crore to settle the case, but the probe did not support this.
Police are yet to arrest the accused, and further investigation is ongoing.
