Days after two gangsters were killed in an encounter, Punjab’s another Cabinet Minister on Sunday asserted that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government would adopt a soft stand in case the gangsters are ready to surrender and return to the social mainstream.
Senior AAP leader and Cabinet Minister Aman Arora, patting the back of Anti-Gangster Task Force while claiming that more than 90 gangsters were arrested or neutralised in a month’s time, issued a warning to the gangsters and the criminals to shun the path of crime or face the music.
The warning came days after the state’s Sports Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer had also appealed to the gangsters to surrender.
Arora, Information and Public Relations, New and Renewable Energy Sources, Housing and Urban Development Minister, said that AAP Government also neutralised two main sharpshooters, involved in the killing of slain Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, to deliver justice to Moosewala’s family and fans.
Accusing the previous governments of patronizing the gangsters and drug mafia, Arora warned the gangsters and criminals to shun the path of crime otherwise they will be dealt with stern action by the government. He also appealed to gangsters to return to the social mainstream.
“Gangsters and drug mafia flourished during the previous government regimes and they patronised dreadful criminals for their vested interests. However, AAP Government vowed to make Punjab a gangster-free land after forming the Government and no anti-elements will be spared at any cost in the State,” he said.
Taking on the opposition parties, the Minister said that gangster culture and mafia would not have flourished in Punjab if they were not sheltered by the previous governments. Due to this, a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) was used to attack Punjab Police’s Intelligence headquarters in Mohali two months back, although these kinds of sophisticated weapons had not even been used when Punjab was in its darkest phase, he added.
Arora said that Punjab has a zero-tolerance policy against the criminals and it is a strict warning to history-sheeters to quit the path of crime or be ready to face the music.
“There is no godfather to protect the criminals in the AAP Government as it used to be during the previous regime,” he said, asking the criminals to surrender at once and return to the social mainstream.
He said that the Punjab Government will adopt a soft stand against them if gangsters are ready to surrender and return to the social mainstream.
Stating that the Mann Government has waged a war against drugs and extensive anti-drug drives were being launched to eradicate the menace of drugs, Arora praised the functioning of the Punjab police saying that the police teams had seized over seven lakh intoxicated tablets, one of the highest recoveries in a day, being smuggled from Uttar Pradesh by peddlers a day before.
Similarly, Punjab police, in collaboration with other states, have also seized huge quantities of heroin smuggled by international smugglers.
Reiterating AAP Government’s dogged commitment, Arora said that the Mann Government will eliminate mafia and gangster culture from Punjab in the coming days.
He also urged the people to inform the Government about smugglers and anti-elements around their surroundings to make Punjab criminals free and bring back the lost glory of the state.
AGTF TO GET ADDITIONAL MANPOWER
Chandigarh: Punjab Police’s Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) will get additional manpower of 250 for setting up its units at the range level across the State. Aam aadmi party (AAP) led State Government has constituted the AGTF to eradicate the gangsters’ network from the State.
“We will set up our units at each range level which will be operational units...We are in the process of selecting people across the State,” said AGTF chief Pramod Ban, who is an Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) rank officer.
The state is divided into eight ranges — Patiala range, Bathinda range, Ferozepur range, Ludhiana range, Jalandhar range, Border range, Rupnagar range, and Faridkot range — each headed by the Inspector General rank officers.
The AGTF was authorised to use the services of State Special Operation Cells (SSOCs) set up in Mohali, Amritsar, and Fazilka, in addition to the services offered by the 361 police stations across the state.
This week, the AGTF, along with the district police, had gunned down gangsters — Jagroop Singh Roopa and Manpreet Singh alias Mannu Kusa — in a five-hour long operation in a village near the India-Pakistan border in Amritsar on July 20. Both Roopa and Kusa were allegedly involved in the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala.
While the two gangsters were killed and three others arrested earlier, Deepak Mundi, the sixth shooter in the Sidhu Moosewala murder case, is still at large. Ban said that the efforts were on to nab Mundi. “We are after him,” he said.
HARYANA POLICE NABS FOUR OF LAWRENCE BISHNOI GANG
Ambala: Haryana police on Sunday nabbed four notorious miscreants of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang from Babyal village adjoining Ambala Cantonment. The team recovered three pistols and 22 live cartridges from their possession after their arrest on Saturday night, the police said.
Those who have been arrested are identified as Shashank Pande, Sahil alias Bagga, Ashwani alias Maneesh and Banti. One of the accused Shashank belonged to Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh) while the other three hailed from Ambala, they said.
Police said that after getting a tip off, the police laid a trap and nabbed them near the cremation ground of Babyal village. “All the arrested persons are active members of Lawrence Bishnoi gang,” said a police official.
Police registered a case under relevant provisions of the law against them on Sunday. Police said further investigations in the case are in progress.