Assault on Pannu a wake up call for people of Punjab: Bajwa

Punjab Congress today said the assault on senior IAS officer in Uttarakhand was a wake up call for people and a warning for officers to either fall in line with the regime or face its wrath and public humiliation.
State Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa said in a statement here that the attack on IAS officer Kahan Singh Pannu was a deep-rooted conspiracy and warning for honest officers to fall in line with the corrupt SAD-BJP regime.
It is difficult to believe that a common man without political protection can dare to go to an extent of assaulting a senior officer, he said, adding the incident was a blot on the face of SAD-BJP government.

Accusing the SAD-BJP government of initially trying to bury the issue in a bid to shield the culprits, Bajwa said, the government had swung into damage control exercise only after the Chief Minister's silence was questioned.
The video of the assault was uploaded on social media on June 24 and the incident was reported to the Chief Minister by Pannu on the same day, he said.
But, the state cabinet didn't debate the issue in its meeting and no action was proposed. It was regretful that the Chief Minister issued a statement only on June 25, but again didn't initiate any probe, he alleged.

It was only on June 26 that the Chief Minister ordered an inquiry, buckling under public pressure, Bajwa said, adding it was surprising that though Punjab government has a full fledged department for disaster management, no officer from there was sent to Uttarakhand.