Punjab Minister Resigns After Official's Suicide Alleging Harassment

Punjab Transport Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar resigned from the state cabinet on Saturday, hours after a Punjab State Warehousing Corporation official in Amritsar died by suicide and left behind allegations of harassment against him in a video that surfaced online.

Gagandeep Singh Randhawa, the district manager for the corporation in Amritsar with additional responsibilities in Patti, consumed a poisonous substance known as Celphos on Friday and succumbed to its effects. In a purported video recorded before his death, Randhawa accused Bhullar of harassment, stating he had taken the poison out of fear of the minister and expressing doubt about his survival. The video, which quickly spread on social media, prompted immediate political repercussions.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann accepted Bhullar's resignation and directed Chief Secretary K. A. P. Sinha to conduct an impartial investigation into the circumstances of Randhawa's death. Speaking to reporters in Chandigarh, Mann emphasized accountability, saying, "What are the reasons behind it? It is a matter of probe. Before conducting the probe, we took resignation from our cabinet minister so that no one could influence the probe...