Punjab assembly session: Bajwa says gangsters having free run

Congress members walk out of assembly after Speaker refuses to allow zero hour and announces discussion on confidence motion moved by Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government

A day after gangster Deepak Tinu, an accused in the singer Sidhu Moose Wala murder case, escaped from Punjab Police custody in Mansa, leader of opposition and Congress MLA Partap Singh Bajwa took on the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party government in the assembly on the concluding day of the four-day session, saying the chief minister, who also holds the home portfolio, should give a statement on the issue.

Punjab Congress members, led by Partap Singh Bajwa (centre) and Amrinder Singh Raja Warring (right), walking out of the assembly in Chandigarh on Monday. (Ravi Kumar/HT)

“Gangsters are having a free run in Punjab,” Bajwa said, seeking Mann’s statement on the escape of a drug smuggler from police custody in Patiala and snatching of an SLR from a police personnel in Gurdaspur.

“The responsibility lies with the chief minister and the director general of police,” he said.

Earlier, Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan announced a discussion on the confidence motion but was forced to adjourn the House for 15 minutes with Congress members demanding zero hour. Sandhwan asked Bajwa to wait but he was firm on the zero hour, saying opposition members cannot be stopped from raising issues of public interest.

The Congress members entered the well of the House, raising slogans. With the Speaker refusing to allow zero hour, the Congress members walked out of the House.