Amarinder warns police against intimidating party workers
Darpan News Desk IANS, 14 Dec, 2021 11:15 AM
Chandigarh, Dec 14 (IANS) Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) chief Amarinder Singh on Tuesday warned Punjab Police officials against intimidating his party workers at the behest of some local Congress leaders.
The former Chief Minister was reacting to reports of Punjab cops stopping PLC workers, who were putting up posters in the Malwa region.
Amarinder Singh said he had received reports that the police officials, "clearly acting at the bidding of local Congress leaders", were threatening to slap false cases against his party workers.
Amarinder Singh expressed surprise that such "mischievous acts" were being allowed by Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi.
"If the present government has the guts, let them take me on politically, instead of using these goons in uniform to do their dirty jobs," he said.
He also asked Channi to "rein in" such elements within the Congress and in the police force, "unless you are deliberately allowing such anarchy to plunge Punjab into political mayhem ahead of the Assembly polls, in which the ruling party is set to be shamefully trounced".
"I know how to deal with such officials who have compromised their integrity to appease their political masters," said Amarinder Singh, adding that if needed, he would not shy from taking the Centre's help to deal with the lawlessness being unleashed by such police personnel.
The former CM asserted that he would do anything needed to ensure that law and order is maintained in the state, which had witnessed "complete peace and political harmony" during his tenure as Chief Minister.
"All such partisan officials who are going around trying to terrorise my party workers should remember that they aren't above the law, and they will have to answer for their acts," warned Amarinder Singh, adding that such draconian acts will not be tolerated at any cost.
The job of the men in uniform is to maintain law and order and not to act in a partisan manner, said the PLC chief, warning the police personnel against becoming tools in the hands of the party in power.
The Channi government should ensure that not just PLC workers, but workers of the BJP or the Shiromani Akali Dal (Democratic), with which his party is headed for alliance or seat arrangement, should not be harassed in the state, he added.
Speaking at the meeting, Sonia Gandhi said, "Monsoon session of Parliament was a complete washout entirely due to the government's obstinate and arrogant unwillingness to discuss and debate urgent issues of public importance."
The Chief Secretary said the 300-bed state of the art hospital will act as a tertiary care centre for the entire northern region, comprising Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh.
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation's Subject Expert Committee has granted Zydus Cadila's three-dose vaccine emergency use authorisation in India. The vaccine can be administered to people aged 12 and above.
The Punjab Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau has arrested former state Director General of Police (DGP) Sumedh Singh Saini in a fraud case pertaining to the sale of land in 2020 and is likely to be produced in a court on Thursday.
Rahul Gandhi has been critical of the Centre and has been raising his voice over several issues. He has criticised the Modi-led government over the fuel price hike, alleged Pegasus snooping row, three farm laws and several others in recent times.
Dharam Das is the disciple of late Mahant Ram Abhiram Das, who had reportedly placed the idols inside the disputed structure on December 22 midnight in 1949. Das, a prominent face of Ram Mandir Movement and one of the main litigants from Hindu side in the Ram Janmabhoomi title suit, lodged the complaint at Ram Janmabhoomi police station.
