Parents of Kargil martyr Gurpreet Singh — Col Inder Singh (retd) and Inderjit Kaur — today accused Haryana Agriculture Minister Harmohinder Singh Chatha of trying to grab their paternal land in Tepla village, Ambala.The duo threatened to undertake an indefinite hunger strike after 15 days in front of the Haryana Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh if the Haryana government did not resolve the issue by then.

Addressing a press conference organised at the Press Club by the Anti-Terrorist Front here today, Col Inder Singh said it was sad that even a martyr’s family had not been spared by the minister, who was trying to get possession of their land in collusion with the state revenue officials.

Also present on the occasion, Dr Viresh Shandilya, national president of the Anti-Terrorist Front, India, said it was shameful the way the state government was treating the family of a martyr. Shandilya said he would fight against this injustice to the very end and even go to court if necessary. Fearing a threat to the life of Col Inder Singh and his family, Shandilya also demanded police protection for them.

However, Agriculture Minister H.S. Chatha vehemently denied the allegation levelled against him by the martyr’s family. “I have got nothing to do with the issue. I am certainly not trying to grab their land,’’ Chatha told Newsline, when contacted.