Making it clear that he would not succumb to SAD’s “cheap pressure tactics” and would get to the bottom of politician-gangster nexus, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday said that he had ordered the probe by the State police chief after receiving photographs clearly showing links of hardened criminals or gangsters with top Akali leadership including the Badals.
Capt Amarinder, refusing to be cowed down by the Akali “theatrics” over the inquiry ordered by him in the wake of media reports of politician-gangster nexus, said that he would not allow anyone found guilty of such charges to go scot free.
In a hard-hitting reaction to SAD’s rejection of the inquiry and their street protests over the issue, the Chief Minister said that before ordering the inquiry, he had apprised the Governor VP Singh Badnore about these photographs, which, if proved to be authentic, would expose the role, nature and extent of Akali involvement in patronizing criminals and gangsters in the state.
“The evidence is serious and required a full-fledged police investigation, and I have asked the DGP to leave no stone unturned into completing the same at the earliest,” he added.
Capt Amarinder said that the evidence received by him in the form of photographs, along with various documents, showed a clear nexus between the Badals and other Akalis leaders, who were obviously trying to divert attention from their involvement by targeting Jails Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.
“SAD, in fact, has no proof of any involvement of Randhawa or any other Congress minister or leaders with gangsters and criminals,” said Capt Amarinder.
“On the contrary, the evidence against the Akalis is documented and needed to be thoroughly probed,” he said, declaring that action would be taken, as per law, against anyone found guilty of such connivance by the inquiry. Such criminal misconduct could not be condoned at any cost, he added.
The Chief Minister lashed out at the SAD leadership for hobnobbing with gangsters and criminals for their own vested interests while Punjab and its people lived under a blanket of deep fear and insecurity for 10 years under their misrule.
The photographs received by the Chief Minister show Harjinder Singh alias Bittu Sarpanch felicitating and posing with SAD bosses, including Prakash Singh Badal, Sukhbir Badal, Harsimrat Badal and Bikram Majithia, according to a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office.
According to inputs available with the police, Bittu is also allegedly close to Jeet Mohinder Singh, the former SAD MLA from Talwandi Sabo.
Inputs available with Punjab Police’s Organised Crime Control Unit (OCCU) also reveal that Bittu is reported to have been providing shelter to members of the notorious Gurpreet Sekhon gang in the past, said the state Director General of Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta, entrusted by the Chief Minister with the task of conducting the inquiry.
Gupta said that Bittu has been named in several criminal cases relating to drugs, murder, dacoity, arms act etc.
As per information available with OCCU, seven FIRs have been registered against Harjinder Singh alias Bittu in cases dated as old as 2006 in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan.
An FIR, dating October 3, 2013 under sections 420 (cheating), 465, 467, 468 (forgery) of Indian penal Code (IPC) in Talwandi Sabo police station.
Another FIR dated October 4, 2010, under sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 506 (criminal intimidation), 34 (common intention) of IPC, 25 of Arms Act in Arki police station in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh.
A case against him was also registered under NDPS Act, dated January 16, 2006, Sivani police station in Bhiwani district of Haryana. Another case, dated November 8, 2008, has also been registered under section 379 (theft), and 341 (wrongful restraint) of IPC in Moonak police station.
FIR, dated November 25, 2014, under sections 452 (house trespass), 323 (voluntary causing hurt), 325 (voluntary causing grievous hurt) of the IPC, 25 of Arms Act in Sangariya police station in Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan, while another case dating November 23, 2014, under section 452, 323, 325 of IPC, 25 of Arms Act in Sangariya police station in Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan.
Another case has also been registered against Bittu in talwandi Sabo police station, dated November 26, 2011, under sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 427 (mischief causing damage), 506, 148 (rioting), and 149 (unlawful assembly) of IPC.
Gupta said that the Punjab Police had categorical and clear orders from the Chief Minister to crackdown on gangsters and criminals operating in the State. “As a part of the crackdown, the Government had, so far, arrested 2127 gangsters, including eight Category A, and neutralized 10 (5 of them Category A). As many as 1040 weapons and 468 vehicles had been seized from these gangsters,” he said.
“Under the present regime, the State had succeeded in obtaining the extradition orders of Ramanjit Singh alias Romi, the mastermind of Nabha Jailbreak case and the principal nodal point of the terrorist or gangster nexus from Hongkong (China). Romi was also involved in drugs or arms trade,” he said.
DGP said that besides Romi, the Police had also secured the deportation of Sukhpreet Singh Dhaliwal alias Budda, the self-styled chief of the Davinder Bambiha gang, from Armenia.