Chandigarh: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president today appealed to Punjabis above party lines to unite to force the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government to take exemplary action against gangsters who had destroyed the peace of Punjab and made life hell for the common man.
Expressing shock at the killing of twenty year old Harmandeep of Kotbhai in Gidderbaha who had been kidnapped for ransom fifteen days back, the SAD president described the incident as heart wrenching. “The law and order situation has become such that even the ordinary man is being forced to pay ransoms”. He said Harmandeep’s parents owned only seven acres of land and they were in no position to pay the Rs 30 lakh ransom demanded by his kidnappers.
Asserting that no one was safe, Sukhbir Badal said no investment is coming into the State and even industrialists and traders in Punjab were contemplating shifting from the State. “If this state of affairs continues no commerce will remain in Punjab”.
Stating that chief minister Bhagwant Mann was solely responsible for the situation as he held the charge of the Home portfolio; Badal said the former did not have any moral authority to remain in office. “The chief minister has failed to take action against gangsters who are now calling the shots in the State. Even the State police is failing to perform its duties under Bhagwant Mann’s leadership”, he asserted.
Stating that he would be visiting various parts of Punjab as part of his Punjab Bachao Daura, Badal said “we will try to instill a sense of security in the people by urging them to unite to ward off gangsters”. He also detailed how he had recently visited Nakodar, where also gangsters had killed a businessman for failing to pay extortion to them.
Badal also expressed his condolences with the family of Harmandeep and assured it that the SAD would do its utmost to secure justice for them.