Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal has accused the Punjab state government of subjecting a young Sikh protester to brutal custodial torture. The youth had staged a rooftop protest against the state’s drug menace in Shero village near Sunam during a public engagement by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
According to Badal, the detained man was stripped, beaten for over an hour with wet footwear, subjected to electric shocks, and slashed with blades with salt rubbed into the wounds, while his turban and beard were mishandled. Badal also alleged that the youth was paraded undressed and that his mother and sisters were publicly abused.
Badal has called on the National Human Rights Commission to investigate the incident as evidence of excessive police force under the ruling Aam Aadmi Party government. Punjab police have not issued a detailed public response, and the claims remain unverified by an outside body.