Rupnagar (Punjab) [India], July 8 (ANI): The Punjab Congress on Wednesday stepped up its attack on the Aam Aadmi Party government after an alleged US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) probe reportedly named a Punjab Police inspector in an extortion-related case, asserting that there is no semblance of democracy left in the state.
While senior party leaders demanded a thorough probe and questioned the state government’s decision to transfer the officer to Police Lines pending verification of the facts.
This comes after the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Hoshiarpur has ordered the immediate transfer of Tanda Station House Officer (SHO) Gurinderjit Singh Nagra to the Police Lines, following viral social media reports alleging his involvement in a high-stakes extortion case under investigation by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Speaking to reporters, former Chief Minister and Congress MP Charanjit Singh Channi alleged that a Punjab Police inspector had been indicted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for allegedly colluding with gangsters involved in extortion.
“Regarding the rampant rise of gangsterism and extortion in Punjab, a premier U.S. agency, the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), has indicted a Punjab Police inspector, naming him in a case for colluding with gangsters to extort money, issue threats, and manipulate FIRs. He is accused of working with gangsters like Bishnoi,” Channi alleged.
Targeting Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Channi said, “I want to ask CM Bhagwant Mann, though he holds no real power, as the state is effectively run by people from Delhi–where is your administration? Are you complicit in the drug trade that has reached every household in Punjab, leading to the deaths of our young men? The police shoot them in the legs after apprehending them.”
“This is not the Punjab we handed over to you; you have ruined our ‘Golden Punjab,'” he added.
Questioning the action taken against the officer, Channi also targeted Arvind Kejriwal. “As for Kejriwal, regarding the officer indicted by the FBI: do you think merely transferring him to police lines is enough, or should there be a thorough investigation? The case involving this officer concerns an extortion demand of four crore rupees. This is not an isolated incident; the police are abetting such crimes, yet the government is shielding him,” he alleged.
Channi also accused the AAP government of undermining democracy during the ongoing municipal elections in Punjab. “There is no semblance of democracy left in Punjab. The ongoing municipal elections are not elections at all; they are being hijacked,” he said.
He alleged that Congress candidates had won in Chamkaur Sahib, Morinda and Kapurthala but were denied the posts of municipal presidents.
“Our Congress candidates won in areas like Chamkaur Sahib, Morinda, and Kapurthala, Rana Gurjit Singh’s constituency. Yet, wherever our candidates won, they were sidelined, and their own people were declared municipal presidents, an act that amounts to a robbery of democracy,” he alleged.
Meanwhile, the Office of the DIG, Jalandhar Range, said Punjab Police had taken cognisance of media reports and social media posts referring to the alleged nomination of Inspector Gurinderjit Singh Nagra, presently posted as SHO of Police Station Tanda in Hoshiarpur district, in connection with an extortion-related investigation reportedly undertaken by the FBI under “Operation Hardball.”
According to the police statement, pending verification of the facts, Inspector Gurinderjit Singh Nagra has been shifted from Police Station Tanda to Police Lines, Hoshiarpur, with immediate effect.
Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring also criticised the state government, calling the act “deeply shameful”.
“This is deeply shameful. When the FBI makes allegations against the Punjab government and the Punjab Police, CM Bhagwant Mann ji cannot simply dismiss them as the work of some foreign agency. The FBI has specifically raised these concerns, and Bhagwant Mann ji and the Punjab DGP must provide a clarification regarding the allegations levelled against the police force,” he added.
“Bhagwant Mann sahib, you seem unaware of what is happening right under your nose, despite being the Home Minister. An agency from across the seven seas, the FBI, is revealing that your police personnel are allegedly involved in such activities. If the police themselves engage in such acts, then who will be safe? That is precisely why the law-and-order situation in Punjab is what it is today,” Warring said.
He further questioned the action taken against the officer. “Another shameful aspect is that, despite these allegations, you merely transferred the concerned police officer to the Police Lines. It would have been better not to transfer him at all, because a transfer to the Police Lines is hardly a punishment. It is merely a shift from one posting to another. There was no suspension, dismissal, termination, inquiry, or explanation,” he said. (ANI)
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