After a local court of Kangra dismissed a plea seeking withdrawal of a kidnapping case against seven persons, including three sitting ministers of the state, the Congress party has trained its guns on BJP, demanding the resignation of ministers involved in the case, even as one of the victims vowed to fight the case till the end.

In a press conference, district Congress chief Suman Verma said that public health minister Ravinder Ravi, industry minister Kishan Kapoor and food and civil supplies minister Ramesh Dhawala should resign over their alleged involvement in kidnapping of two female Zila parishad members.

When contacted, one victim, Swarna Devi, said she was feeling depressed and has still not recovered from the shock. “It has been 10 years, but justice is still awaited. I am not ready to take back the case under any circumstance. I have hired my own advocate for the case,” she said. “During the 2001 elections, the other party did not want us to vote and they kidnapped us from our house and took us to Mandi. For two-three days, my children’s remained without me,” Swarna Devi said.

The other accused in the case are former BJP leader Dullo Ram, Des Raj, Bhagat Ram and Amar Chand Negi. The incident took place during the previous stint of the BJP government in 2001 in the wake of a tussle between ruling and opposition parties to gain control over the seat of Kangra Zila parishad.

The then parishad members, Swarna Devi and Punia Devi, had lodged a complaint alleging that the accused had kidnapped them and kept them in wrongful confinement. On their complaint, a case under sections 365, 342 and 506 of IPC was registered against the accused.

Via: TOI