 "Bhagwant Mann")
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday said the state will be freed of gangsters and drug peddlers and accused the previous Akali and the Congress governments of patronising them.
Mann complimented the Punjab Police for an operation against two gangsters in Amritsar.
Gangsters Jagroop Singh Roopa and Manpreet Singh alias Mannu Kusa, allegedly involved in the murder of singer Sidhu Moosewala, were gunned down in a nearly five-hour-long encounter with the Punjab Police at an Amritsar village on Wednesday.
Mann said his government will not allow anyone to disturb peace in the state.
It is my guarantee to the people that we will not allow anyone to disturb hard-earned peace in the state and every effort will be made to maintain peace and communal harmony in Punjab by making it free from gangsters and drug smugglers, he said.
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Mann alleged that the gangsters and drug peddlers were patronised by the previous governments.
Under the protection of Akalis and Congress, these gangsters and drug peddlers had a free run because their masters used them for their vested political interests.
The chief minister was holding a meeting with Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav and other officers here.
Mann, however, said after assuming charge, his government accorded top priority to free Punjab from gangsters and drug smugglers.
The day is not far when all of them will be behind the bars, he added.
The chief minister said Wednesday's action of the Punjab Police was in consonance with the zero tolerance policy of the state government against gangsters and anti-social elements.
He said these gangsters were involved in the murder of noted Punjabi singer Moosewala and had been at large since his killing.
Mann said the Anti-Gangster Task Force had identified these attackers and detected that they were hiding in a building near the Amritsar border.
The Punjab Police carried out the operation in a highly professional manner by displaying exemplary courage, he said, adding the state is indebted to them for their heroic deeds.
The Punjab Police has upheld its glorious legacy of combating the anti-social and anti-national elements head-on to safeguard the lives and property of people, Mann said.
He said the action by the police has made every Punjabi feel proud.
Mann assured the people that no gangster, drug peddler or any anti-social element will be allowed to jeopardise the hard-earned peace of the state and severest of severe action will be taken against them.
Cabinet minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer appealed to notorious criminals active in Punjab to shun the path of violence and return to the mainstream.
He said the government has a zero tolerance towards the gangster culture.
Hayer said the Bhagwant Mann-led government is making all efforts for the eventual rehabilitation of the remaining criminals.
I appeal to the gangsters who are still at large to shun the path of crime and come back to the social mainstream. Our government will adopt a soft stand towards them. But the gangsters will have to meet their fate under the law, he said.
Earlier, criminals were patronised by politicians and the police but under the Mann government, no one will be allowed to disturb the hard-earned peace of the state at any cost, the minister said.
The dreadful criminals should bear in mind that they cannot evade law any longer and the path adopted by them will lead them to doom, he said.
Hayer also praised the police action against the two gangsters in Amritsar.
He appealed to the youngsters not to get lured by the gun culture.
Urging criminals and gangsters to return to the mainstream, he said the government is also trying to rehabilitate gangsters who surrender.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
