Speaker complains to DGP about law & order problem in own constituency
Kultar Singh Sandhwan said, “I am told that a gang is active in the area which attacks commuters, shopkeepers and loots them. A teenage boy was attacked on Sunday, while cash from a petrol pump was looted last week. If such incidents are not controlled, their consequences will be really bad.”
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Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kotkapura taking out a protest march in Kotkapura market on Wednesday afternoon. (Express Photo)All the while the Opposition has been pointing the finger at the Punjab government for ‘poor’ law and order situation in the state which the ruling dispensation had been shrugging it off, but on Wednesday the AAP-led regime got a rude awakening when Punjab Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan complained about the law and order problem in his constituency (Kotkapura) and spelled out the home truth to state DGP Gaurav Yadav.
Talking to The Indian Express, Sandhwan said, “Law and order situation in my constituency Kotkapura in Faridkot district needs special attention. Residents are being robbed now and then, masked men are injuring people with sharp-edged weapons. I called the DGP Punjab at my Chandigarh-based residence and asked him to take immediate steps to control the crime in the area. This is not justified at all.”
Sandhwan said, “I am told that a gang is active in the area which attacks commuters, shopkeepers and loots them. A teenage boy was attacked on Sunday, while cash from a petrol pump was looted last week. If such incidents are not controlled, their consequences will be really bad.”
While Sandhwan was interacting with the DGP Punjab in Chandigarh on Wednesday, residents of Kotkapura were protesting in the main markets of the town area against the ‘poor’ law and order situation.
“The Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kotkapura, has given a ‘Kotkapura bandh call’ on December 28 (Thursday). More than two dozen incidents of robbery, snatching and attack with sharp-edged weapons have taken place in the past 8-10 days. Most incidents took place in broad daylight. We are feeling unsafe, and so this is a bandh call against the poor law and order situation,” said Onkar Goyal, president of Chamber of Commerce and Industry, while talking to The Indian Express.
On Monday night around 8.30, one Harinder Singh Ahuja who runs a popular general store – ‘Kake di hatti’ – in Kotkapura was attacked by masked robbers when he was going home after closing the shop.
Ahuja said, “My mobile and around Rs 25,000 were robbed of by masked men. Apart from this, I was also attacked. I sustained injuries to my eye and hands.”
Robbers had taken away Rs 1.6 lakh from the petrol pump’s cash box, while around Rs 6,000 was looted from a teenager from the main market of Kotkapura. The teen was also attacked.
Goyal said, “We are feeling unsafe in our own houses. We are angry with the police and the administration for not coming to our rescue. The Punjab Speaker is our MLA, so we have told him about our concerns.”
The Speaker said, “It seems that the force is not adequate in many police stations of my constituency due to which such incidents have increased. I have told the DGP to get adequate police force deputed at all the police stations of the district. Nakas should be set up at various locations to check the movement of anti-social elements. It is the primary responsibility of the police to take care of the public and ensure their safety. The DGP has assured me of a quick redressal of the problem in the area. He said that police are planning to keep an eye on anti-social elements via drones in the area.”
Sandhwan is a two-time AAP MLA from Kotkapura. He had won in 2017 and 2022 on a AAP ticket.
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