CHANDIGARH: Ruling Shiromani Akali Dal today hit out at Punjab Congress Chief Amarinder Singh, saying that all the allegations of fake encounters leveled against former top cop Sumedh Saini pertained to the era of the Congress governments at the Centre and in the state.
"Whether Saini is guilty or not can always be found out by courts but Captain's statement is the strongest proof through admission that his party ordered these killings," said SAD General Secretary Harcharan Singh Bains in a statement .
"You have in fact finally but unwittingly conceded that the hands of the party you belonged to then and are heading now are drenched with the blood of innocent Punjabis, especially of the Sikh youth," he said.
"Regardless of whether your allegations of fake encounters against Sumedh Saini are right or wrong, your statement is the first open and brazen admission by you that you had knowledge of the Congress governments indulging in genocide of the Sikhs and using the police and the Army for this purpose," said Bains.
"You need to do a lot of explaining about why you continue to being a party which even according to you ordered these extra judicial killings of thousands of innocent Sikh youth in a massive genocide of the Sikhs merely to teach a lesson to the community," he said.
The Akali leader asked Amarinder to explain to the people of Punjab as to what action did he take against those guilty of these fake encounters when he was the Chief Minister of Punjab for full five years.
"After all, the same Sumedh Saini was a senior police officer in your government. Did you suspend him and ordered an inquiry against him and other police officer whom you hold responsible for the killing of innocent Sikh youth in fake police encounters? Why did you remain silent then," he asked.
Seeking Saini's dismissal, Amarinder yesterday while referring to the recent disclosures made by a former cop Gurmeet Singh Pinky, blamed Saini and some of his colleagues in Punjab Police "for extra-judicial killings and fake encounters."
Meanwhile, Congress today asked the ruling SAD to clarify its stand about the role of former DGP Saini during the militancy in view of the recent allegations leveled by Pinky.