Upinder Kaur, wife of Gagandeep Singh Randhawa, district manager of Punjab Warehousing Corporation (PWC), said his autopsy and last rites would not be carried out “until justice is done”.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Kaur said, “The autopsy and last rites will be conducted only after that… I want justice and nothing else,” news agency ANI reported.
Randhawa allegedly died after consuming a toxic substance around 7 am on Saturday. His death by suicide sparked a political storm in Punjab, with serious allegations emerging against former Transport Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar.
Read also | Threatened, held at gunpoint: Shocking allegations emerge against Punjab minister in PWC officer suicide case
A video allegedly surfaced on social media on the same day showing him claiming that he took the extreme step out of fear of Bhullar.
Harassment allegations
The widow of the PWC official accused Bhullar of repeatedly harassing her husband and pushing him to the brink.
“Transport Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar tortured my husband a lot. My husband became so helpless that he committed suicide… He was told that his family and children would be eliminated, and the gangsters would be hunted down,” ANI quoted her as saying.
Describing the days before his death, she added: “He was severely tortured on March 13 in his office. On Saturday morning, yesterday, he committed suicide. I have 3 young children. I have a mother-in-law. We are all demanding justice. Make the arrests.”
“I fear for my life,” the wife says.
Kaur said her husband informed her of the alleged harassment and even called the authorities.
She said: “After he returned on March 13, he told me everything… He even filed a complaint with his management. They just kept giving him guarantees, but nothing happened.”
She also alleged a delay in police action, alleging that “the FIR was not registered initially under government pressure.”
She linked the matter to an official tender, saying: “All of this happened because the tender was not passed. This meant that my husband did not pass it intentionally.”
“I fear for my life; security must be provided for me and my children… If anything happens to us, this government will be responsible for it,” Kaur added.
Minister resigns, FIR filed
The controversy quickly escalated, leading to Bhullar’s resignation from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann accepted his resignation following these accusations.
Soon after the resignation, a case was registered against the former minister, his father Sukhdev Singh Bhullar and another aide on charges of abetment to suicide.
Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, Commissioner of Police, Amritsar, confirmed that an FIR under Sections 109, 351 (3) and 3 (5) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was lodged at Ranjit Street police station.
