Badal government driven by vested interests: Amarinder

Alleging that the Prakash Singh Badal government is driven more by vested interests, Congress leader Amarinder Singh today questioned why most crimes committed against women in Punjab in the recent past have an "Akali/Badal connection" in one way or another.
"This is bound to happen when the rulers are driven more by vested interests than public good", he observed in a statement issued here today.
Citing incidents, including the Moga molestation, the abduction of a minor girl from Faridkot and the killing of an police ASI in Amritsar, he alleged that all had a Badal or an Akali connection.
The former Chief Minister said the bus in which the mother-daughter duo was molested and then thrown off, is operated by the Orbit Transport Company owned by the Badal family.

"Had the bus been owned by anyone else, the police would have charged and arrested the owner by now", he claimed.
He also alleged that the culprit in the assassination of Amritsar ASI Ravinderpal Singh was a senior leader of the Youth Akali Dal who was allegedly stalking and harassing his daughter.

Amarinder claimed that these were only some of the cases related to the crimes against women, while there are several other incidents where Akalis are directly responsible but are going scot-free.
"Given the immunity accorded to the Akalis by your government, they break the law with all impunity leaving the law enforcement agencies helpless," he remarked.

"Most of the Akalis, as also people working for your transport or cable companies, are a law unto themselves as no policeman can dare touch them," the former Chief Minister said.
He added, "This is because the SHOs and DSPs are not answerable to the SSPs but to the Akali jathedars and halqa-incharge".