With Opposition leaders alleging phone-tapping, Punjab government on Tuesday rejected charges of unauthorised tapping of phones and alleged a major political conspiracy against the Amarinder Singh-led Congress government, ahead of the Shahkot by-election.

Addressing a Press conference on Monday, the CM claimed that the station house officer (SHO) Mehatpur, Parminder Pal Singh Bajwa, had telephonic conversations with leader of Opposition Sukhpal Singh Khaira and Shiromani Akali Dal spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema before the registration of the case on the charges of illegal mining against Congress candidate for Shahkot bye-poll, Hardev Singh Laadi Sherowalia.

Urging the Election Commission (EC) to take cognisance of the government’s request for immediate transfer of Mehatpur SHO, the spokesperson said the recent developments in the constituency had exposed the nexus between the SHO and certain politicians belonging to the SAD as well as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Denying phone tapping allegations as false and baseless, the spokesperson said the SHO had himself been heard bragging to his colleagues in the police station and to friends about his conversations with AAP’s Khaira and SAD’s Cheema.

The government had never indulged in any such illegal acts involving violation of the privacy and human rights of individuals, nor would do so under any circumstances said the spokesperson.

He said the Opposition had simply picked up a part of the CM’s statement to divert attention from the operative part of his remarks, which had exposed the blatant nexus of the SHO with the senior Akali and AAP leadership.

It was significant that Khaira had not denied the alleged conversation referred to by the CM, said the spokesperson. It was evident from Khaira’s response that the conversation cited by Amarinder had indeed taken place, as the SHO himself had been found talking about it to all and sundry, the spokesperson added.

The spokesperson pointed out that the SHO’s role in the entire episode had been questionable from the very outset, considering the undue haste with which he had filed the FIR against the Congress candidate for Shahkot bye-elections, instead of merely initiating an inquiry, as directed by the EC.

The SHO’s conduct after filing the FIR also smacked of partisanship and political bias, said the spokesperson adding that the SHO was playing into the hands of political leaders with vested interests.