‘Bullets would have been fired if Amritpal was arrested on March 18’: Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann

He said that on March 18, the police had initiated action after the government got reports of several persons working at the behest of enemies of the country.

By: Express News Service

Chandigarh | Updated: April 24, 2023 07:12 AM IST

3 min read

“As Home Minister and as CM, I am sharing with you that if we wanted to arrest him on March 18, then bullets would have been fired. But we did not want to do that," Mann said. (File)

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Facing flak over the last month for failing to nab Amritpal Singh, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann Sunday stressed that he did not want any bloodshed during the operation and added that had the authorities arrested the pro-Khalistan preacher on March 18 – the day on which the Punjab Police had launched its crackdown – ‘then bullets would have been fired’.

“As Home Minister and as Chief Minister, I am sharing with you that had we arrested him on March 18, then bullets would have been fired. We did not want to do that. We could have done anything during the Ajnala violence also when they (Amritpal and his supporters) carried the palanquin carrying the Guru Granth Sahib (while storming the police station complex), but I did not want anything done. I appreciate the police for exercising such restraint,” Mann said in a video message hours after Punjab Police arrested the self-styled chief of Waris Punjab De from Moga in the morning.

Mann expressed gratitude to the people of Punjab for their cooperation. He said that on March 18, the police had initiated action after the government got reports of several persons working at the behest of enemies of the country. “Today Amritpal Singh, who ran an organisation that misled the children of common people to take up arms, has been arrested. I want to thank the 3.5 crore people (of the state) for having shown mutual harmony… You have given the responsibility to the Aam Aadmi Party government. We will come true to that. We will take action, no matter how strong it is. But we will not say anything to innocent people. Law will take its own course”.

In his 8-minute address, Mann said after he received information about the self-styled preacher’s presence in Rode village late on Saturday, “I did not sleep the whole night. I was in regular touch with senior officials over phone every 15 minutes to get information. I wanted that entire thing (operation to arrest Amritpal) should be done in a peaceful manner,” he added.

The CM said he does not want the youth to be misled by people with vested interests who run their shops by driving a campaign against the country.“Punjab’s land is fertile and anything can grow here, but seeds of hatred will never grow nor will these be allowed to grow”, he added.

Mann said that he wants the youth of Punjab to hold degrees in their hands, appointment letters for occupying high posts and medals in top sporting events. “I want Punjabi youths to be hailed everywhere. I do not want youths to get provoked. I do not want that they become customers of the shops run to create disturbance in the state”.
In New Delhi, AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal said that AAP government is committed to ensure peace and security in Punjab for which it will even take “tough decisions”.

“We are committed to the peace and security in Punjab. We are also ready to take tough decisions for this,” Kejriwal said.

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