A youth allegedly consumed a poisonous substance at the Dhanaula police station on Thursday morning, accusing some police officials of harassing him and demanding money from him in connection with a complaint regarding his car.Joban Singh, son of former sarpanch Baljinder Singh Pappu of Bhathlan village here, alleged in a 3.04-minute video posted on Facebook that his car had caught fire around 17 days ago and that he had been making repeated rounds of the police station to get the daily diary report (DDR) registered to initiate proceedings for an insurance claim.Joban alleged that a police munshi, whom he identified as Pamma, accused him of deliberately setting the vehicle on fire and allegedly demanded money from him on different occasions. He also alleged that a DDR was registered after members of the village panchayat intervened.Joban also blamed Dhanaula SHO Manjeet Singh for his decision to take the extreme step.With tears rolling down his face, he further accused a patwari Gurwinder Singh in connection with a land dispute involving his family at Balian village in the Dhuri subdivision of Sangrur district.”Bhagwant Mann’s constituency is Dhuri, where our village Balian is located. He claims to have ended corruption, but the patwari took Rs 5 lakh in corruption,” alleged Joban in the video.Joban also alleged that he was fed up with the alleged harassment and consumed pesticide.After allegedly consuming the poisonous substance, he was taken to a hospital for treatment.Later, another youngster, claiming to be Joban’s brother, posted a video alleging that the SHO ran out of the police station after the incident, snatched his phone and that the cops shut the main gate of the police station.Barnala SSP Mohammad Sarfaraz Alam said, “The youth who reportedly consumed some poisonous substance is stable and admitted to a private hospital in Barnala. He has raised two issues, accusing two police personnel and a patwari. We are verifying the allegations and will take action accordingly.”The SSP further said that Sub-Inspector Manjeet Singh holds the charge of additional SHO at the Dhanaula police station.


