Lawsuit filed in US against Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal

OAK CREEK (Wisconsin): On a visit here to commiserate with the Sikhs after the Gurdwara shooting, Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal has been hit with a federal lawsuit by a US-based human rights group alleging the "torture" of Sikhs in the state.

The lawsuit contends that Badal had command and control of law enforcement officials, who "inflicted cruel and inhumane treatment and extrajudicial death" on three named plaintiffs and thousands of other unnamed members of a requested class of plaintiffs, the Journal Sentinel newspaper here said.

Badal is visiting Milwaukee for a wedding and to attend the funerals of victims in Sunday's Gurdwara shooting in which six Sikhs were killed.

The 30-page complaint was filed in US District Court in Milwaukee by Avtar Singh of New York, who lists himself as coordinator of "Sikhs for Justice."

The daily said Badal declined to comment about the suit, saying he hadn't seen it.