Punjab: CM vows to break politician-gangster nexus, Sukhbir hits back

Refusing to be cowed down by the Akali theatrics over the inquiry ordered by him in the wake of media reports of politician-gangster nexus, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday said he would not succumb to such cheap pressure tactics but would get to the bottom of the affair, and would not allow anyone found guilty of such charges to go scot-free.

In a hard-hitting reaction to the Shiromani Akali Dal's (SAD) rejection of the inquiry and their street protests over the issue, the Chief Minister said he had ordered the probe by the DGP after receiving photographs clearly showing links of hardened criminals and gangsters with top Akali leadership.

The Chief Minister said before ordering the inquiry, he had apprised the Governor about these photographs, which, if proved to be authentic, would expose the role, nature and extent of Akali involvement in patronizing criminals and gangsters in the state. The evidence was serious and required a full-fledged police investigation, and he had asked the DGP to leave no stone unturned into completing the same at the earliest, he added.

The evidence received by him in the form of the photographs, along with various documents, showed a clear nexus between the Badals and other Akalis leaders, who were obviously trying to divert attention from their involvement by targeting Jails Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, said the Chief Minister. The SAD, in fact, had no proof of any involvement of Randhawa or any other Congress minister/leaders with gangsters and criminals, said Captain Amarinder.

In a statement, the Chief Minister lashed out at the SAD leadership for hobnobbing with gangsters and criminals for their own vested interests while Punjab and its people lived under a blanket of deep fear and insecurity for 10 years under their misrule.

Meanwhile, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal asked Chief Minister Captain Singh to also include his own name in the list of Congress leaders being investigated for patronising gangsters by releasing a photograph in which Capt Amarinder Singh is seen inducting notorious gangster Harjinder Singh Bittu Sarpanch into the Congress party during electioneering in 2017.

Stating in a statement that the Chief Minister's statement today in which he tried to link gangster Harjinder Bittu with Akali leaders as a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black, the SAD president said that "now please forward this photograph as well as many others which we are putting in the public domain today to the DGP."

"This evidence will help the DGP in finding out the real politicians who are in league with gangsters and are using them for their political motives. Please also forward this photograph to Governor VP Singh Badnore so that he also understands how the Congress used gangsters in the run-up to the assembly elections for political benefits and is now repaying them at the cost of the people of the State.