Former Transport Minister Bhullar Arrested for Abetment to Official’s Suicide

March

2026

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Patti, Tarn Taran district and former Panjab Transport minister Laljit Singh Bhullar was arrested on 23 Mar in connection with the death of a Punjab Warehousing Corporation (PWC) official. A PWC, Amritsar District Manager Gagandeep Singh Randhawa committed suicide on 21 Mar by consuming poison. In a video recorded after consuming Celphos (Aluminium phosphide), Randhawa claimed harassment by Bhullar. Celphos is a commonly used fumigant for stored cereal grains and is often used by farmers and laborers to commit suicide. Bhullar has also resigned at the direction of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. In her complaint, Randhawa's wife Upinder Kaur claimed her husband was constantly pressured to allot a warehouse tender to Bhullar's father Sukhdev Singh Bhullar. Bhullar, his father, and his personal assistant Dilbagh Singh threatened Randhawa on 13 Mar at their residence, and forced him to admit he took a USD 10K bribe for allotting the warehouse tender to another party. Bhullar’s arrest took place after protests by leaders of Indian National Congress (INC) and Shiromani Akali Dal who jointly wrote to the union Home Minister Amit Shah. The leaders are also demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into Randhawa’s death. Shah said he will order the CBI probe upon a written request from Panjab’s Members of Parliament. With Bhullar’s arrest, now two AAP MLAs are in jail. The other being Maninder SIngh Lalpura who was sentenced to four years in prison in Sep 2025 over the assault and molestation of a Dalit (marginalized caste) woman in 2013. Meanwhile, the Panjab Assembly unanimously passed a resolution seeking Bharat Ratna—India's highest civilian award—for Dalit icon and Bahujan Samaj Party founder Late Kanshi Ram. The resolution came a day after Kanshi Ram's 92^nd birth anniversary. In another resolution, a Punjab Assembly Committee has recommended a vigilance bureau probe into the sale of eight tourist complexes of Punjab Tourism Development Corporation that were sold to private parties in 2006–07 under the disinvestment policy of the then INC government (earlier coverage).