Cong leader Bajwa skips police summons, CM Mann tells Oppn leaders not to do politics of threat and terror

Bajwa, through his counsel, expressed inability to appear on Monday, saying he received the summons late on Sunday night and sought time till Tuesday to appear.

Senior Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa. (File)

3 min readChandigarhApr 15, 2025 11:23 AM IST First published on: Apr 15, 2025 at 11:23 AM IST

Senior Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa sought time till Tuesday to appear before police in connection with an FIR registered against him over his “50 bombs have reached Punjab” claims, even as Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said Opposition leaders should not indulge in such kind of politics that spread fear among the masses.

Police had issued summons summons to Bajwa, asking him to appear before the Mohali Superintendent of Police on Monday noon in connection with the case registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station under Sections 197(1)(d) (false and misleading information that endangers country’s sovereignty and unity) and 353(2) (false statements intend to create enmity and hatred or ill will) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Bajwa, through his counsel, expressed inability to appear on Monday, saying he received the summons late on Sunday night and sought time till Tuesday to appear.

Bajwa has been booked over his claims that “50 grenades had reached Punjab”. The FIR states that he intended to disturb public peace and tranquillity, thereby, creating a sense of fear, ill-will, and enmity among different communities by making such a statement.

Mann, addressing an event at Patiala’s Punjabi University to mark the birth anniversary of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar, took a jibe at Bajwa saying on being questioned about the bombs, the Congress leader was going around hiring lawyers.

“Yesterday, he was speaking about the number of bombs. When we asked where are the rest of the grenades, now he is going around hiring advocates. You are going around scaring people. We have seen enough of AK-47s, bombs going off and the bad days. Now let Punjab take some respite. This is my request to those leaders. Practice politics of specific issues and not of spreading scare or terror,” Mann said.

Later interacting with media, Mann said Bajwa has to share his source of information when he is making a specific statement regarding the number of grenades available in Punjab and the blasts which are yet to take place. “Who has given him this information? Had this been an intelligence input available at the national level then it would have been shared with Punjab government.

Punjab Intelligence also does not have this information. Have you made this statement just to spread terror among masses? Or are you waiting for the bombs to explode? In that case, this is a crime. You are behaving in an irresponsible manner. The law will take its own course in this matter,” Mann said.

Bajwa, the Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly, had in a TV interview said that 50 hand grenades had entered the state and that 18 were used in blasts while 32 remained unaccounted for. A team of Punjab Police Sunday had visited his residence and questioned him on the source of his statement before booking him.