Will wipe out gangsters from Punjab: Amarinder

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday vowed to end the culture of violence in the state, declaring that all gangsters would be wiped out in the crackdown launched against them by police.

"The police are hard on the heels of the gangsters and all those taking the law in their hands. None of them would be spared," he told media here.

Gangsters in Punjab have made headlines for wrong reasons in the past over one decade with their criminal activities, including murders, extortion, kidnappings and other crimes.

In the past couple of months, leading singers and actors have been attacked or have received threats and extortion calls from gangsters.

The Punjab Police on Saturday registered a case against gangster Dilpreet Dhahan after he allegedly made an extortion call to leading Punjabi film star and singer Gippy Grewal.

Dilpreet was in the news in April this year after he claimed responsibility on an attack on popular Punjabi singer Parmish Verma of the popular Punjabi song "Gaal Ni Kadni" fame.

Several rounds were fired on Verma in Mohali town, adjoining Chandigarh, past midnight on April 14. One bullet hit Verma on the leg and he had to be hospitalized.

Dilpreet allegedly carried out the attack on Verma to force him (Verma) into submission for an alleged extortion call of Rs 25 lakh.

The Amarinder Singh government, which came to power in Punjab in March last year has directed the state police to go after the top gangsters.

--IANS

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