Under fire over gangster violence following the killing of kabaddi player Rana Balachauria in Mohali, Punjab CM Bhagwant said there was no lapse on his government’s part and the incident was the result of the “seeds sown” by previous Akali and Congress regimes.
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Meanwhile, the Congress alleged that the organised crime had “tightened its grip” on the state, turning it into “an open arena” for gangsters.
Interacting with the media, Mann said, “There has been no lapse on the government’s part as it does not support or encourage anyone. It is result of seeds sown in the past by the Akalis and the Congress, due to which gangsters’ internal rivalries are now surfacing.
Warning gangsters, the CM said no one would be allowed to spread terror in the state.
“We are soon coming with a plan to tackle gangsters. We are analysing who are involved. Their hideouts and countries from where they threaten people and run their operations are being identified,” he added.
He said the police had identified three accused in the Rana Balachauria murder case.
“One accused is a gangster sitting abroad while two others belong to Amritsar,” he added.
Commenting on the development, Warring alleged that killings had become an “everyday affair in the state”.
The leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa, said organised crime had “tightened its grip” on Punjab, turning the state into an open arena for gangsters and criminal syndicates.
Bajwa alleged that the intelligence wing of the Punjab Police had been rendered virtually defunct under Mann’s leadership. “Crime today is not just rampant, it is foreseeable,” he said