A Congress delegation led by Jalandhar MP and former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi met governor Gulab Chand Kataria on Thursday and raised concerns over what it described as the “continuously deteriorating” law and order in the state.
The Congress leaders also raised concerns over alleged restrictions on protests and the reported beating of a person who showed a black flag to the CM. The delegation included Gurdaspur MP and former deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Punjab Youth Congress president Shubham Sharma, former minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa and other party leaders. This government is openly patronising criminals,” Channi alleged. Randhawa alleged a nexus between gangsters and police officials in the border areas of the state and demanded an impartial probe, including scrutiny of the mobile phones and call-detail records of officials concerned. He specifically referred to DSPs transferred from Dera Baba Nanak and Batala. “I am making these allegations with full responsibility. Channi termed such incidents a matter of concern for democracy. The delegation further raised the Sangrur suicide case involving a Dalit man. Channi demanded an FIR and action against cabinet minister Harpal Singh Cheema, besides seeking his resignation on moral grounds.
Speaking to reporters after meeting Kataria, Channi accused chief minister Bhagwant Mann of promoting gangsterism, citing the recent induction of Gurpreet Singh Sekhon, one of the accused in the 2016 Nabha jailbreak case, into the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). “The AAP embraced a gangster with 47 cases registered against him and are planning to give him a ticket in the upcoming assembly elections.
If they are proved false, the DGP can register a case against me,” Randhawa said.
