Mansa: The committee seeking justice in the Oct 13 killing of activist Parvinder Singh Jhota has said it will hold talks with the state govt only through a group of ministers accompanied by the chief secretary, rejecting further dialogue with police and administrative officers.The committee reiterated its plan to hold a protest outside chief minister Bhagwant Mann’s Sangrur residence on Nov 5, putting the state govt under pressure as assembly elections approach.Three committee members, including Bhim Singh, father of the deceased activist, met ADGP Gautam Cheema, Bathinda Range DIG Harjit Singh and senior IAS officer Kulwant Singh Dhuri. They conveyed that the committee wanted to engage only with a panel empowered to take decisions on its demands.Committee member Rajwinder Singh Rana, who represented the group, told TOI that the meeting was only to communicate its position. He suggested that assembly speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan, health minister Balbir Singh, agriculture minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian and chief secretary KAP Sinha hold talks with them.Rana said the committee wanted cases registered over the past few days to be cancelled, failing which there was no point in holding talks. It would instead focus on its plan to lay siege to the CM’s Sangrur residence, he said.ADGP Cheema said discussions with the committee were positive and further deliberations could take place with govt representatives. He said the govt would consider the 12 demands submitted by the committee.Earlier, the state govt had formed a panel of three women IAS officers to hold talks with the committee. Rana said the committee had no confidence in panels without the authority to take decisions, alleging that they had to seek instructions from political leaders. He questioned why the political leadership was avoiding direct talks even after 20 days of protests.
