Sukhbir denies involvement of Akali leaders in Ludhiana brawl

Referring to the Ludhiana incident, Badal said one of the accused in the case had already been arrested and the remaining will be behind bars by this evening.

"In the Ludhiana case, police took prompt action...An FIR was registered...It was an attack on an individual who was not in uniform," he said.

Urging media not to equate those involving in criminal activities with Akalis, he said "those indulged in attack with a cop at Ludhiana are not associated with Bikram Singh Majithia (Minister and brother-in-law of Sukhbir)."

He said the person involved in the attack was expelled from the party long time back.

Badal, who also holds the Home portfolio, said "between 400 to 500 murders takes place in a year in Punjab".

His remarks came days after he patted his police in Assembly claiming Punjab to be the "safest" place in the country and asserted that the ruling SAD is strongly against anti-social elements.

"Nobody is above law irrespective of his position," he said however, adding that "I don't say crime rate is zero in Punjab."

A senior Punjab Police officer was allegedly beaten up by a leader of the state's ruling Shiromani Akali Dal's youth front in a brawl at a private hotel at Ludhiana where the cop went to attend a Christmas-eve party with three of his friends and their families.

Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), Counter Intelligence, Ludhiana, S S Mand belonging to Punjab Police Service (PPS) was injured when he intervened after his friend Paramjit Singh, an NRI, was allegedly attacked by the hotel owner Sunny Johar who is also Senior Vice President of Youth Akali Dal (YAD).

Police had registered a case under various sections of IPC, including attempt to murder, snatching and the Arms Act against Sunny Johar, Rishi Banda and Aman Inder Singh who is also a YAD leader.