After Lovepreet Singh, a Dalit youth from Ratta Khera village in Sangrur district in Punjab died by suicide hours after being interrogated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on July 13, family members and a number of leaders in Punjab have called out to the agencies asking them to check the misuse of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act ( UAPA).
23-year-old Lovepreet was summoned by the NIA on July 13 in relation to an investigation into a 21-month-old UAPA case initially registered by the Amritsar Police for writing pro-Khalistan slogans on walls.
Parents demanded probe
Lovepreet’s parents demanded that an elaborate probe should be ordered into the circumstances in which he died by suicide.
“Lovepreet’s death is linked with NIA summoning. I don’t know what happened with him inside the NIA office. There should be an investigation and those responsible for suicide of my son should be booked,” Singh’s father Kewal Singh told Indian Express.
“He was in touch over phone with me and his wife till reaching the NIA office. However, he didn’t call back after reaching the NIA office,” he added.
On July 13 Lovepreet went alone to appear before the NIA and in the evening he called up his father and told him that he was staying back at Gurudwara Amb Sahib and would be returning home the next day.
However, on July 14 the staff of the Gurudwara discovered his body hanging from the ceiling of the room.
Lovepreet’s suicide note reads: “I apologize to my wife. I am leaving you in the middle. I can never pay for what you have done for me. I will miss you. I had many plans with you in life but fate was not with us.”
This is state terrorism: Former Leader of Opposition in Punjab assembly Sukhpal Singh Khaira
President of Punjabi Ekta Party and former Leader of Opposition in Punjab assembly Sukhpal Singh Khaira MLA demanded a high-level probe into Lovepreet’s suicide.
“Lovepreet a young Dalit boy of Sangrur ended his life fearing victimization under the draconian UAPA law, this is nothing but state terrorism. I urge Captain Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister of Punjab to have his mysterious suicide investigated,” Khaira demanded.
“There should be an independent probe into the circumstances in which Lovepreet ended his life. It should be probed if the investigators had physically and mentally assaulted him,” AP MLA from Bhadaur Pirmal Singh Khalsa also demanded an impartial enquiry into the matter.
