The Ludhiana police registered a case against BJP councillor Gauravjeet Singh Gora, party leader Jatinder Goriyan and 11 others for allegedly making misleading remarks against the temple head.
Asha Bhola, Laveen Tangri, Raveena Malhotra, Janak Rani Malhotra, Sachin Malhotra, Sakshi Bahubal, Pankaj Kapoor, Saurav Kapoor, Mehak Malhotra, Meenakshi Malhotra and Shiv Malhotra were also booked in the case.
The action has been taken following the orders of the Commissioner of Police (CP) on the complaint of Tarun Chaudhary, an authorised representative of Maa Baglamukhi Dham Trust, Singla Enclave, Pakhowal Road.
As per information, on June 9, the suspects had gathered a huge crowd and staged a protest outside the CP’s office and had made indecent and misleading remarks against the mahant of the temple, Parveen Chaudhary, on social media and news channels.
The suspects had levelled serious allegations against the temple head of demanding a ransom of ₹3 crore and accepting a gold bracelet as a bribe in a business dispute.
A high-level police investigation ordered by the top cop was conducted by ADCP Vaibhav Sehgal and ACP Harshpreet Singh and they found the allegations to be baseless, following which an FIR was registered late on Thursday night at Police Division 5.
According to the police investigation, the dispute stems from a clothing transaction between the families of Pratik Tandon and Sahil Malhotra. Tandon filed a fraud case against Sahil Malhotra, Meenakshi Malhotra and Praduman Malhotra at the Daresi police station. When they were brought to the police station in connection with the case, they got into an altercation with Tandon, leading to another FIR being filed at the police station.
The complainant, Pratik Tandon, serves at the Maa Baglamukhi Dham temple. The suspects had a misconception and suspicion that the trust and the mahant were helping Tandon in the case. They believed that the police took strict action against them and arrested them at the mahant’s behest. The suspects conspired to target the mahant due to the grudge.
On June 9, as a result of the rivalry, the suspects assembled outside the CP’s office and staged a protest, blocking traffic and raising slogans against the temple head.
Jatinder Goriyan claimed that the mahant had demanded Rs 3 crore to settle the case. He also falsely accused the mahant of accepting a 12-tola gold bracelet.
The suspects are yet to be arrested in the case.
