DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Tuesday said Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann should own moral responsibility for the worsening law and order situation and resign as Home Minister.

He expressed shock at the manner in which the Amritsar police and its commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar were engaged in a cover-up operation and were denying that a string of grenade attacks on police stations in Amritsar took place.

A blast was reported at the police station on early Tuesday, triggering panic among residents, but the police denied it.

According to locals, an explosion was heard at around 3 A.M. However, according to the cops, a heavy object fell on the temporary police sentry post outside the station.

Amritsar Police Commissioner Bhullar denied claims of a blast and said a policeman posted on sentry duty heard the sound.

"I immediately went out but found nothing. I heard the sound," he said.

Speaking about the incident at Amritsar's Islamabad police station when a loud explosion damaged window panes of neighbouring houses, Majithia said, "The Amritsar Police was quick to deny the incident and even cleaned up the police station to show nothing had happened. However, simultaneously the police were at work and threatening people who asserted that they had heard a grenade going off, for which responsibility has also been taken now."

Stating that the Punjab government must not take such attacks on police stations lightly, the Akali leader said, "Earlier when the Majitha police station was the subject of a grenade blast the police claimed that a tyre had burst. Now again the same tactic is being employed in the case of the attack on the Islamabad police station."

Majithia said all these attacks were a clear indication of an Intelligence failure and that the Chief Minister should own moral responsibility for it.

"This is also the result of weakening state institutions by giving encouragement to gangsters like Lawrence Bishnoi," he said.

Asking the state government not to try to deny such incidents, Majithia said, "An effort should instead be made to isolate and arrest the anti-national elements behind the blasts." The Police Commissioner, however, said some people claimed on social media that an "attack" took place at the police station but there was no such incident.

(editor@dailyworld.in)