Kidnapping case: Trouble for Punjab Cabinet minister Gurkirat Kotli as NCW issues notice
The National Commission for Women (NCW) has asked the Punjab Government to submit a detailed status report on a 1994 case involving the alleged kidnapping, illegal detention and molestation of a French national. Punjab Cabinet minister Gurkirat Kotli is one of the key accused in the case.
Chairperson, National Commission for Women, Rekha Sharma has sent a fresh notice to the Punjab Government in this regard."
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She said it had come to their notice that one of the accused in the 1994 kidnapping case had been appointed a Cabinet minister in Punjab. "We have asked the Punjab Government to file a status report in the case within 15 days,” she added.
The case
Gurkirat Kotli is the grandson of former Punjab Chief Minister the late Beant Singh and is a two-time MLA from Khanna. When the kidnapping case was reported in 1994, Beant Singh was the Punjab Chief Minister.
The French national, who was on a visit to India, was allegedly kidnapped and then assaulted. Kotli was one of the key suspects.
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The woman left to France saying she had been threatened of dire consequences. The woman did not testify against the suspects. The accused included five of Kotli's friends and two Punjab Police officials. However, all of them were acquitted in 1999.
In 2017, the Shiromani Akali Dal again urged the NCW to order a fresh probe. The Punjab Government, then led by Captain Amarinder Singh, was then forced to issue a notice.
-PTC News
