CHANDIGARH: Former Deputy Chief Minister and president of Shiromani Dal Sukhbir Singh Badal, after his questioning by Special Investigation Team of Police on sacrilege incidents that took place in 2015 alleged that the Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh was again meddling with radical elements.
He said the grenade attack at the Nirankari Bhawan near Amritsar was a direct fall out of the chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh's policy to support radicals and even use them to marginalize the mainstream moderate Akalis. He said this was done in the 1980s and 1990s also.
"Now again Punjab is being pushed into bloodshed", he said adding even the Ranjit Singh Commission was used to divert attention from the abject failures of the Congress government. He said the situation reminded him of 1978 incident of attack on Nirankaris."
"Till twenty-five years ago, the state suffered because of terrorism,'' he added. He alleged that the CM Amarinder and his cabinet colleagues have had held meetings with the radicals over the past few months."
Member of Parliament from Ludhiana Ravneet Singh Bittu is now blaming Baljit Singh Daduwal for yesterday's tragedy and even talking about the crores collected by him.
"Why was Bittu silent when we gave proof of the dinner meeting invitation extended to Daduwal by Amarinder and even details of the Rs 18 crore collected by him?" he added.
He said in spite of the warning by the Army Chief Gen Rawat's, no preparedness has been done to tackle the issue in the state.
"I told the SIT, it had a political motive behind it. I was questioned by all five members," and he added that he had been called with regard to an FIR registered to the Kotkapura firing at the instance of the police, a fact which was also recorded in the FIR. He said this was not all.
"I was questioned about what directions I gave on October 14, 2015, when I was out of the State after duly informing the chief minister". He also disclosed that he had asked Kunwar Vijay Partap, another SIT member, as to whether he had received any directions to clear people from the Beas bridge in 2015 when he was IG Border Range.
Asserting that SIT members even asked irrelevant questions based on hearsay, he made a categorical statement that he had never met film actor Akshay Kumar outside Punjab ever. Badal also came down heavily on AAP leader H S Phoolka for claiming that the Indian army could be responsible for the Amritsar attack, saying this in itself was an anti-national act.
He also condemned Congress minister Sukhjinder Randhawa for supporting Phoolka's assertion and said due action should be taken against him also.