‘Why is Lawrence Bishnoi not in Punjab jail?’: Minister Harpal Cheema’s poser to BJP

Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Cheema today accused political parties of staging a farce by raising concerns over gangster menace in Punjab, asserting that it was their governments in the past that had provided them the breeding grounds to prosper.

He was addressing the media ahead of the Assembly session in Chandigarh.

“The recent murder of a businessman in Abohar was carried out by Lawrence Bushnoi, who is in Gujarat jail. It is sad that he is targeting Punjab sitting in Gujarat. Why is he being kept there? The BJP wants to keep these gangsters under its grip and use them for creating unrest in states where it does not have a government. But, the Punjab Government is sincerely committed to ensuring peace…

“All leaders including those of the BJP, Congress and SAD are infact working in favour of drug mafia and even openly supporting gangsters,” he alleged.

“We are only cleaning the rot that has been gifted to us by the previous governments. I assure you that we will eliminate the drug mafia in Punjab,” he said.

Taking on the BJP, Cheema said, “Instead of making a noise in public, why does the party not approach Home Minister Amit Shah and have gangster Lawrence Bishnoi shifted to a Punjab jail? Many gangsters are in jails of other states.”

The Congress has openly supported gangsters like Mukhtar Ansari by giving them a comfortable stay in Punjab jails, he said. He is known to have promoted an ‘action city’ with anti-social elements threatening and even killing people.

“Police records openly show the support of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders,” Cheema alleged.

“In fact, the entire Opposition cannot deny its lackadaisical approach to have been the reason for the drug mafia to have prospered over the past decades. In one example, Leader of Opposition Partap Bajwa has taken a U-turn in his stand. We have the video of him saying ‘we will drag SAD president Sukhbir Badal, senior leaders Majithia and Tota Singh to state roads, tying them behind a vehicle. Why is he protecting them now? Actually, they are all the root cause of the menace that we witness today.“

Reacting to fake killing of alleged gangsters, Cheema said, “Our police is on the job and the reality will be out in the open soon, silencing all critics.”

Punjab