Shun path of violence or face action: Punjab minister's message to gangsters

Punjab Cabinet minister and AAP leader Aman Arora on Sunday asked the gangsters and criminals to shun the path of violence otherwise they will face stern action from the Bhagwant Mann-led government.

The Sunam legislator also hit out at the previous governments while accusing them of patronizing the gangsters, criminals and drug smugglers.

At the same time, the minister also patted his party's government on the back for crackdown against drug smugglers and gangsters in the state.

Addressing the media here, Arora said over 90 gangsters were nabbed by the Anti-Gangster Task Force of the Punjab Police in the last one month.

''It is the last warning from the state government to gangsters to leave the wrong path otherwise they will face action,'' said Arora. He also referred to the police action against two gangsters a few days ago in Amritsar.

He also appealed to the gangsters to return to the social mainstream.

''Gangsters and drug mafia flourished during the previous government regimes which patronised the dreadful criminals for their vested interests. However, the AAP government vowed to make Punjab a gangster-free state after forming the government and no anti-social elements will be spared at any cost in the state,'' asserted Arora who is the Housing and Urban Development minister.

To a question, the minister said the gangster culture and mafia would not have flourished in Punjab had they not been sheltered by the former governments.

Arora said the Punjab government has a zero-tolerance policy against criminals and the history-sheeters are strictly warned to quit the path of crime or be ready to face the music.

He said there is no godfather in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government to protect the criminals as it used to be during the previous regime and asked criminals to surrender at once and return to the mainstream.

Replying to a question, Arora said the state government will adopt a soft stand against the gangsters who are ready to surrender and return to the social mainstream.

''If such a person (criminal) leaves the wrong path and wishes to return to the mainstream, the government will support him. They are children of Punjab and if they are on the wrong path and if they today also shun the wrong path, the government will think with a sympathetic view,'' said Arora without elaborating on the same.

Stating that the Mann government has waged war against drugs and extensive anti-drug drives were being launched to eradicate the menace of drugs, Arora said police teams had seized over 7 lakh intoxicated tablets, one of the highest recoveries in a day, being smuggled from Uttar Pradesh.

Similarly, the Punjab Police in collaboration with other states has also seized huge quantities of heroin smuggled by international smugglers.