Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Partap Singh Bajwa on Thursday said the assault on senior IAS officer Kahan Singh Pannu was a wake-up call for the people of Punjab and the state bureaucracy to understand the "sinister designs of the SAD-BJP government".
"The attack is a deep-rooted conspiracy and a warning to honest officers to fall in line with the corrupt regime or get ready to face their wrath and public humiliation," Bajwa said in a statement here.
He said Pannu himself endorsed the Congress viewpoint that it was a "planned conspiracy".
Bajwa stated that now it was up to the state government to protect the honour and prestige of its officers.
He said it was difficult to believe that a common man without political protection could dare to go to the extent of making an attempt on the life of a senior officer. "This incident is a blot on the face of the SAD-BJP government," he added.
Bajwa said the SAD-BJP government initially tried to bury the issue in a bid to shield the culprits and began a damage-control exercise only after the Congress questioned the silence of chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.