Gaganjit Singh Barnala remanded to police custody

CHANDIGARH: A local court on Sunday remanded Akali Dal legislator Gaganjit Singh Barnala, son of Tamil Nadu Governor SS Barnala, to a one-day police remand after a case of rape was registered against him. Gaganjit was also medically examined and police said they would get a DNA test done on him too.

Pronouncing the order in a jam-packed court, Judicial Magistrate Atul Marya asked the prosecution to produce Gaganjit in the court on Monday at 10 am.

The Chandigarh police here arrested Gaganjit on Saturday night after a 45-year-old maid alleged that she had been raped by the legislator in his official quarters in the city’s high-security Sector 3. The woman, who was admitted to a super-specialty general hospital here on Saturday evening in a serious condition was out of danger now, doctors said. Her statement has been recorded by police officials.

Gaganjit’s wife Harpreet Kaur, who was present in the flat at the time when the alleged rape took place, claimed that her husband was being framed and she was not being allowed to speak with the maid. The maid had been working as a masseuse in their flat for the last seven to eight months.

Shiromani Akali Dal spokesman DS Cheema said that the case looked like a frame-up.

With the Assembly elections round the corner in the state, political observers think that the Akali Dal MLA’s arrest is a set back for his party. However, party insiders claim that Gaganjit does not enjoy a good rapport with SAD chief Parkash Singh Badal.