Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday said it was shameful that even as Punjab had descended into mayhem with a record four brutal murders occurring in a single day, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was busying defending corruption cases registered against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi.
In a statement here, the SAD president said, “None is safe in today’s Punjab. Even in jail, executions are being done at will as was seen by yesterday’s execution of two gangsters who were the prime accused in the murder of noted Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala. Such acts lend credence to the fact that the AAP government does not want the truth in the Moosewala murder to be revealed”.
Badal said Punjab had also been hit by a spate of gruesome crimes in the last ten days. “Never in the history of the state, has gang-war descended to the streets as has happened now. Anti-social elements are also using the complete breakdown in the law and order machinery to settle scores at will. The police force has been bottled down by the AAP administration as was witnessed recently during the attack on the Ajnala police station by radicals led by Amritpal Singh,” he said.
“This, as well as other incidents, which have revealed the complete lack of an integrated command structure, have demoralized the State police and compounded the problem,” the SAD chief added.
Badal said it was shocking that four gruesome incidents had occurred today itself with a Congress leader and former Market Committee Chairman of Patti Major Singh Dhaliwal being shot dead in broad daylight, a student being killed in Punjabi University, Patiala, a person being killed in Amritsar and a woman being hacked to death in Sangrur.
He said the state had recently also witnessed gangsters chopping the fingers of a youth in Mohali while a woman was attacked in the presence of the police in Ferozepur. Badal said similarly a man was brutally assaulted with iron rods in Sunam while another met a gruesome death in Phillaur.
The SAD chief said the CM Bhagwant Mann was directly responsible for this state of affairs but “nothing concrete has been done to stem the tide of gang wars in Punjab”.
“Similarly terrorist activities have also increased ever since the rocket grenade attack on the state intelligence headquarters in Mohali. Punjab has also witnessed communal clashes including the clash at the Kali Devi temple in Patiala,” he added.
Badal said Punjab was paying a heavy price for the mis-governance of the AAP government. “The industry is already moving out with many units having shifted base to Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir as the State government displayed helplessness in dealing with extortions being levied by gangsters against them. This has led to an increase in unemployment as well as destruction of communal harmony,” he said.