Senior INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala on Friday defended his party's state unit chief Nafe Singh Rathi, who has been booked in a suicide case, saying the FIR filed against him as part of a "political conspiracy". He also demanded a CBI probe into the matter.
Former Haryana minister Mange Ram Rathi's son's death
Former Haryana minister Mange Ram Rathi's son Jagdish Rathi (55) allegedly committed suicide by consuming poison in Jhajjar's Bahadurgarh on Wednesday and six people, including Nafe Singh Rathi, have been booked under the charges of abetment, according to police.
On December 26 last year, Jagdish Rathi had circulated an audio clip in which he had alleged that some people had been harassing him and if anything happens to him they would be responsible, police said.
Chautala said the FIR has been lodged against Nafe Singh Rathi as part of a "political conspiracy".
When the audio clip went viral on December 27, 2022, Nafe Singh Rathi had submitted an application to the police to get the matter investigated, the Ellenabad MP said.
"At that time, Jagdish was called to the police station and questioned by the SHO and the DSP. Jagdish went to the police station and gave a statement that he was under the influence of alcohol and did all this by mistake," he added.
"At the police station, Jagdish talked about settling the matter and said that he would meet Nafe Singh Rathi and apologise to him. Had Jagdish taken the name of Nafe Singh, then an FIR should have been registered against Nafe Singh immediately and he should have been questioned," Chautala said.
He claimed that the day Jagdish Rathi committed suicide, his younger brother had come to meet him.
"If anything was troubling Jagdish, then he (Jagdish Rathi's brother) would have mentioned it to me," he said.
Chautala said if someone is guilty, they should be arrested, but police should not be used this way to defame the INLD.
The INLD leader further demanded a CBI probe into the suicide case and a sexual harassment complaint filed by a woman coach against Haryana minister Sandeep Singh.
"The truth will only come out when both the cases are investigated impartially," he said.
Chautala said he will launch a statewide padyatra on February 20 to expose "scams and corruption" of the BJP-JJP coalition government.
"The BJP-JJP coalition government fears this yatra...that we will go to every village and city to expose the scams and corruption of the government, how they have drowned Haryana in heavy debt and how they have failed on all fronts," he said.
The padyatra will cover all 90 assembly constituencies of Haryana, he said.
(With PTI input)
