Chandigarh, Feb 27 Slamming Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh for not taking action against gangsters, senior Punjab BJP leader Vineet Joshi on Saturday accused the Chief Minister of maintaining "silence" against two gangsters for vote bank politics.
"By not arresting gangster Lakha Sidhana and by not transferring dreaded gangster Mukhtar Ansari to Uttar Pradesh, it is evident that Amarinder Singh is selective in his action against gangsters, eyeing upcoming Assembly polls salted early next year," Joshi said in a statement here.
Accusing the Congress of initially "fuelling" the farmers' agitation to reap political benefits, Joshi, who is former media advisor to the Punjab government, said, "Gangster Lakha Sidhana, who is wanted by Delhi Police for his involvement in the Republic Day violence, recently attended a rally in Mehraj village but was not arrested by Punjab Police."
Targeting Punjab Police for its failure to arrest Sidhana, Joshi said it "is unfortunate the police are finding technical reasons, trying to justify their inaction to run away from their responsibility."
He said despite an open threat from the gangster, the police have not acted so far for reasons best known to them. He said Sidhana openly challenged the police from the rally but the police present at the rally site watched everything as a "mute spectator".
Warning Amarinder Singh not to indulge in such acts, which can cause grave threat to state peace, Joshi questioned why not just Sidhana, but the Congress government is also protecting hardcore gangster Mukhtar Ansari who is currently lodged in a Ropar jail, by not handing over his custody to the Uttar Pradesh Police.
Joshi said even the Uttar Pradesh government has informed the Supreme Court that the Punjab government is "shamelessly protecting" BSP MLA Ansari by not handing over his custody to face trial "in 10 heinous cases of murder, extortion, cheating, and fraud."
( With inputs from IANS )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor