Punjab DGP should be dismissed over Kartarpur corridor remarks: Oppn parties

Opposition AAP and SAD in Punjab on Monday demanded that DGP Dinkar Gupta be dismissed over his purported statement on the Kartarpur Corridor.

The parties, which staged a protest outside the Punjab assembly over the matter, also sought a response from Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) saying Director General of Police (DGP) Gupta "should also be booked and sent to jail".

Gupta on Sunday had said he expresses his "sincere regret" if any remark made by him inadvertently caused any hurt to the people of the state.

"We want from Amarinder Singh to dismiss the DGP for his highly condemnable statement and he should also be booked and sent to jail," AAP MLA Harpal Singh Cheema told reporters here.

AAP members also carried posters of the DGP and raised slogans against the state government.

Senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia lashed out at the DGP for his purported statement.

"We want to know why CM Amarinder Singh and Punjab Congress Chief Sunil Jakhar are mum now over the DGP statement's... who (DGP) was handpicked by the Congress. We want to seek answers from them," Majithia said.

Opposition parties had claimed that DGP Gupta had told a national daily that "Kartarpur offers a potential that you send somebody in the morning as an ordinary chap and by evening he comes back as trained terrorist actually. You are there for six hours, you can be taken to a firing range, you can be taught to make an IED".

The DGP had also reportedly said some elements based in the neighbouring country were "trying to woo the pilgrims and making overtures to them".

Gupta had on Saturday said he was being "misunderstood or wilfully misconstrued" as his remarks strictly pertained to the security and safety of Punjab and India.