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Dera follower’s murder: 2 back-to-back killings raise concerns over law and order situation in Punjab
In the recent incident Pardeep Singh, a Dera Sacha Sauda follower, who was an accused in the 2015 sacrilege cases, was shot dead on Thursday by five unidentified assailants in Faridkot’s Kotkapura district
Chandigarh: Two back-to-back killings in Punjab, a Shiv Sena (Taksali) leader in Amritsar and Dera Sacha Sauda follower in Kotkapura, within a span of one week have raised serious concerns over the law and order situation in Punjab.
In the recent incident Pardeep Singh, a Dera Sacha Sauda follower, who was an accused in the 2015 sacrilege cases, was shot dead on Thursday by five unidentified assailants in Faridkot’s Kotkapura district. On November 4, Shiv Sena (Taksali) leader Sudhir Suri was shot dead by a garment shop owner when he was protesting outside a temple in Amritsar.
Both Singh and Suri were killed in the presence of Punjab Police security guards who were attached with them keeping in view the threat perception. While Suri had 16 gunmen to protect him, Singh was given three armed guards.
This is fifth such incident in eight months of the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government wherein questions are being raised on the handling of law and order in the state. Mishandling of a clash between Sikh radicals and right-wing activists in Patiala, RPG attack on Punjab Police intelligence headquarters in Mohali, killing of singer Sidhu Moose Wala and state police’s failure to nab the accused gangsters have repeatedly given a political ammunition to the opposition parties to target the government.
The Punjab Police had recently faced criticism after the Mansa crime investigation agency in-charge Pritpal Singh helped gangster Deepak Tinu, a key accused in the Moose Wala murder case, escape from the police custody. Later, Tinu, like most of the other gangsters involved in the killing of Moose Wala, was arrested by the special cell of Delhi Police.
“The recent broad daylight murders have put a question mark on the law and order situation in the state. This is bound to create more insecurity not only among the people but also those being guarded 24x7 by cops. High-level meetings of the state government won’t help. The situation needs thorough professional approach by the state police,” said former Punjab director general of police (DGP) SS Virk.
As officiating DGP of Punjab Gaurav Yadav is on leave, special DGP Sanjeev Kalra, who is temporarily holding the charge as the head of police force, told media that investigations are on in the case.
AAP’s Punjab unit chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang could not be contacted for comments despite repeated attempts.
