Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said on Monday that culprits of the Bargari sacrilege case and the subsequent incidents of police firing at Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura in 2015 will not be spared.
“The special investigation team is on its job of investigating Bargari and other incidents but under the law, I cannot interfere in its functioning. The SIT is fully cognisant of the sensitivity and urgency of the matter and would not delay its investigations,” said Capt. Amarinder here at a press conference.
Asked if he was supporting the radicals to get control of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, the Chief Minister said that he had never had any links with such groups. He said that he would support any moderate group of Sikhs to get control of the SGPC as he wanted “the Badals” (former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son and Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal) out of it. “They have ruined the gurdwaras,” he alleged.
In response to another question, the Chief Minister said Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence had been active in Punjab for long, possibly through Kashmiri students. However, he clarified that every student from Kashmir was not a militant and the police had so far not established any links of the recently arrested students with locals.
On the issue of stubble burning, the Chief Minister said the situation could aggravate once harvesting is complete.
“While my sympathies are with the farmers, the government is bound by law to take action against those indulging in burning of paddy straw,”' he added.
Capt. Amarinder said his government would wait till the end of the month before taking any decision on fuel prices, as international prices of oil were fluctuating.
