Rejecting Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s “latest attempt” to procure a clean chit for Jails Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa by marking an inquiry into the gangster-politician nexus to the state Director General of Police (DGP), the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Sunday said that only a CBI inquiry or that by a sitting judge of the High Court could uncover the patronage being given to criminals by the Jails Minister.
“We feel the case against Sukhjinder Randhawa is an open and shut one. It has been conclusively proven that notorious gangsters like Jaggu Bhagwanpuria are not only having a field day in prison under his watch but their extortion rackets are also flourishing from inside the jail compound,” said SAD’s senior leader and former minister Daljit Singh Cheema.
He said: “The Minister himself has also recently batted for giving a clean chit to gangster Manpreet Manna in a Cabinet meeting and has even chided the Muktsar SSP for calling Manna a gangster. What more evidence is needed in the case?”
Cheema said that the propriety demanded that Randhawa resign immediately from the Council of Ministers to facilitate a free and fair inquiry into his links with gangsters as well as rampant corruption in the Jail Department under his leadership.
“However, this inquiry should be conducted by the CBI or a sitting judge of the High Court as the State DGP could not be expected to investigate allegations against the Jails minister and arrest him,” he said.
Terming the Chief Minister’s claims of photographs emerging overnight of some questionable person with senior SAD leaders as audacious, Cheema said that the Chief Minister had only drawn a red herring to relieve pressure from the Jails Minister and dull the clamour for his resignation.
“This is against democratic principles. The Congress Government should not indulge in a cover-up exercise to exonerate the Jails Minister without holding a fair inquiry against him. If the CM is really serious about breaking the gangster-politician nexus in the State, he should proceed against Randhawa immediately instead of trying to give a clean chit to the Jails Minister before the start of the inquiry,” he demanded.
Cheema said that this was not the first time the Chief Minister had given a clean chit to a Cabinet colleague, “earlier Food and Civil Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, whose name had cropped up in the Grand Manor Homes illegal CLU case, had also been given a clean chit by the Chief Minister and the DSP who had tried to probe the case professionally had been suspended”.
Asking the Chief Minister not to compromise with law and order due to political exigencies, Cheema said that this could have dangerous repercussions. “Punjab is a border state. We cannot allow law of jungle to become a norm here. Anti-national elements are bound to take advantage of this. Capt Amarinder must show the political courage to strike against rotten apples in his own Cabinet like Randhawa and others who even shamelessly propagate the benefits of imbibing opium in cabinet meetings,” he added.
