Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, on Thursday, expressed grave concern over the alleged smuggling of weapons and drugs from Pakistan in drones.
Amarinder, who met Prime Minister, Narendra Modi in New Delhi, said he had always been warning against Pakistani designs and now the frequency of smuggling of weapons and drugs through drones was quite high.
He said these were finding their way into the hands of those who were trying to disturb peace in Punjab.
The Captain condemned the incident of arson outside a Gurdwara in Jalandhar, where some furniture, including chairs and benches were set on fire. He said this was quite unacceptable and called for an end to it. He warned against letting the situation drift any further.
Flagging the law and order situation in Punjab as alarming, Amarinder said the “growing clout of Amritpal Singh Khalsa and his supporters”,  who were behind the arson outside the  Gurdwara in Jalandhar, was a matter of grave concern.
Amarinder said he had met the Prime Minister after about 3 months. He said he had a detailed meeting with the Prime Minister for about half an hour.
The former Chief Minister, without giving any specific details, said he had comprehensive and elaborate discussions about the prevailing situation in Punjab.
“I had not met the PM since my surgery. So I came to call on him and he asked me about the Punjab situation. I told him I’ve been in politics for 53 years and have seen how the situation deteriorated during the days of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. The state is headed down that same path,” the former Punjab CM said.
He also said the responsibility for maintaining law and order was that of the state government and not the Centre.
“The situation in Punjab is alarming. Weapons are coming in. The ruckus by Amritpal Singh’s supporters in a Gurdwara in Amritsar the other day is worrisome. He is fashioning himself after Bhindranwale. The situation is quite grim,” Amarinder said.
The supporters of Khalistan and self-styled Sikh preacher, Amritpal Singh, had created a ruckus at the Gurdwara in Jalandhar ,vandalising the property of Gurdwara Singh Sabha. His violent supporters pulled out chairs and sofas from the Gurdwara and set them ablaze. Justifying the action, they alleged that placing chairs and sofas inside the Gurdwara is against the Sikh religion.
This came after Amritpal in his speech questioned the placing of chairs and sofas inside the Gurudwaras stating that it is against the ‘Sikh Maryada’.