‘Akali-gangster link’: CM says guilty won’t be spared

‘Evidence was serious and required a full-fledged probe; Governor apprised’

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday said he would get to the bottom of the ‘politician-gangster nexus’ and will not spare anyone found guilty of such charges.

Investigation by DIG

Reacting to the Shiromani Akali Dal’s (SAD) rejection of the inquiry and their street protests over the issue, the Chief Minister said he had ordered a probe by the Director General of Police after receiving photographs clearly showing links of hardened criminals-gangsters with top Akali leadership.

The Chief Minister said before ordering the inquiry, he had apprised the Governor of these photographs, which, if proved to be authentic, would expose the role, nature and extent of the Akali involvement in patronising criminals and gangsters in the State.

“The evidence was serious and required a full-fledged police investigation, and had asked the DGP to leave no stone unturned into completing the same at the earliest,” he said.

‘Vested interests’

The Chief Minister accused the SAD leadership of hobnobbing with 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.