Rejecting outright Parkash Singh Badal’s allegation that Punjab was slipping into anarchy, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said the law and order situation in the state was better than it had ever been in the past 10 years, with figures showing marked decline in all major incidents of crime since the Congress government took over in March this year.In a hard-hitting statement challenging the former Chief Minister to prove his allegation of deteriorating law and order situation with hard facts, Captain Amarinder said since the change in guard following the Assembly elections earlier this year, Punjab had seen massive improvement in its law and order situation.In stark contrast to the jungle raj prevailing during the SAD-BJP regime, led by Badal, a general state of peace prevails today in Punjab, with incidents of sacrilege and drugs trading, as well as heinous crimes like murder and kidnapping/abduction coming down drastically in the past eight months, the Chief Minister said.People were earlier living under a blanket of fear and lack of safety, with gangsters ruling the roost under the patronage of the ruling coalition, said Captain Amarinder, referring to the complete breakdown of the law and order machinery in the state under the Badal rule. With the Congress government cracking down on them, gangsters and criminal elements could now be seen fleeing the state in sheer desperation out of fear of arrest and penal action, he added.On the targeted killings, which Badal had cited to substantiate his charges of anarchy in the state, Captain Amarinder pointed out that such attacks had commenced almost two years ago, when the Akalis were at the helm.
In fact, it was during the rule of the Badals when the state witnessed two fidayeen attacks, he added.Citing data to counter Badal’s allegation of a breakdown of law and order in the state, the Chief Minister pointed out that in the period between March 15, 2017 and September 30, 2017, a total of 21721 cases under IPC were registered as against 21926 cases registered in the corresponding period of 2016.There has been a decrease in all major categories of heinous crime cases, such as murders, kidnapping/abductions, robberies and dacoities, during the said period of 2017 as compared to the corresponding period of previous year, said Captain Amarinder, lashing out at Badal for misleading the people of Punjab with his brazen falsehoods and baseless statements.While murder cases in the period under review had come down from 454 to 384, cases of kidnapping/abduction had declined from 936 to 915. The figures for dacoity stood at 29 and 17 respectively, and those for robbery were 76 in the said period of 2016 and 65 for the corresponding period of 2017.As for action on the drugs front, there had been a whopping increase in the number of cases registered under NDPS Act and Excise Act, as well as seizures of drugs since his government took over, said Captain Amarinder.It was obvious, said the Chief Minister, that Badal had not bothered to check on facts and was trying to fool the people with his unfounded allegations against the government. Contrary to what Badal was trying to project, the civil and police administration in the state was working closely together on a day-to-day basis to ensure peace and communal harmony, and keep the incidence of crime in check, he added.