Look Out Notice For Accused Who Escaped Custody In Punjab Singer Murder

Under fire from the Opposition over the escape of gangster Deepak Tinu from police custody, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday said a look out notice has been issued and he will be arrested soon.

Tinu, one of the accused in singer Sidhu Moose Wala's murder, escaped from the custody of the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) unit of the Mansa police on intervening Saturday-Sunday night.

Participating in the debate on the confidence motion on the concluding day of the Punjab Assembly here, Mr Mann said the look out notice against the gangster has been issued and a special operation is on to nab Tinu.

CM Mann said the gangster will soon be behind bars.

He further said the CIA in-charge Pritpal Singh has been sacked from the force and a case has been registered against him after which he had been sent on remand till October 7 by a court.

Speaking on the Sidhu Moose Wala murder case, CM Mann said so far, police registered a case against 36 people and out of which, 28 have been arrested.

Singer Sidhu Moose Wala was killed in May in Mansa.

Mr Mann slammed the Congress and Akalis for allegedly patronising gangsters in the state for their vested political interests.  Gangsters have not been born in these six months after his government has assumed charge, he said.

As a fact of matter, gangsters have been patronized by the Congress and Akali leaders during their governments, Mr Mann alleged, adding that these leaders and parties used them for their vested interests.

Earlier during Zero Hour, Leader of Opposition and Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa slammed the AAP government over the escape of the gangster and sought a statement from the CM on the issue.

Replying to Bajwa over the law and order situation in Punjab, minister Aman Arora said the Mann-led Punjab government has been trying to improve the situation, which had deteriorated during the previous governments.

Speaking on the 2015 sacrilege issue, Mr Mann said his government is committed to ensuring severest of severe punishment to perpetrators of the Bargari incident.

Mr Mann said he has asked the officers to complete the inquiry into matter at the earliest for nailing the guilty, no matter how influential they are.

He said the state government was also making all out efforts on the legal front to ensure that no guilty is spared.

Mr Mann trained his guns against Amarinder Singh for allegedly shielding the corrupt and said the former chief minister had joined BJP with a few of his accomplices.

However, he said the BJP had "closed doors" for some supporters of the former CM due to serious allegations of corruption against them.

Mr Mann said if the BJP is denying entry to such leaders then one can well imagine how much corrupt they would have been.      In the House, Mann said the state government will make all out efforts to get the Halwara airport named after legendary martyr Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha.

He said no stone will be left unturned for this noble cause which woiuld be a tribute to the iconic martyr.

He also thanked the Centre for renaming the Chandigarh airport after Shaheed Bhagat Singh. Reiterating the firm commitment of the state government to ensure smooth and hassle free procurement of paddy in the state, the chief minister said every single grain of the crop will be purchased.

Earlier after calling attention notices, the Speaker adjourned the House for a brief period after the Congress MLAs sought zero hour before the discussion on the confidence motion.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)