Badal visits family of slain ASI, assures them of full security

Under fire after a SAD leader murdered ASI Ravinderpal Singh in broad daylight in Amritsar after he was asked to stop teasing the police officer's daughter, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Saturday visited the family of the deceased.

Accompanied by cabinet minister Bikram Singh Majithia and DGP Sumedh Singh Saini, Badal reached the residence of the ASI from Ludhiana after seeing off Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. In a closed-door meeting that went on for about 20 minutes, the family reportedly complained to Badal that despite a police station being located nearby to the crime spot, no one turned up to help the slain ASI and her daughter. While speaking to Badal, the ASI's wife reportedly expressed fears about the safety of her family as "the accused may target her family in case they are granted bail". She added that when the ASI was alive, the accused kept on teasing his daughter and now that the police officer was dead, the family was even more at risk.

While assuring them of full security, Badal told the family that Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal will also visit the family in a couple of days.

Later, while speaking to mediapersons, Badal termed the murder as "an isolated incident", which should not interpreted as leading to law and order breakdown. "Rana was not an old worker of the party," the CM said, adding that neither he nor Majithia had ever seen him. "The issue of accused SAD leader possessing three arms licenses was being probed... Over the years, issuing of arms license has seen a dip. Moreover, if anyone has already made up his mind to commit a crime, he would do so with an illegal weapon as well."

While appealing that the matter should not be politicised, Badal said: "Even outsiders went on to attack Mumbai and Parliament... It is difficult to predict such things."

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