BJP backing gangster Lawrence Bishnoi: Punjab FM Harpal Cheema

Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Thursday accused the BJP of patronising gangster Lawrence Bishnoi who, he said, ordered the killing of Abohar businessman Sanjay Verma from a jail in party-ruled Gujarat.

Launching a no-holds-barred attack, he also alleged that the BJP, which rules at the Centre, intended to use such gangsters to “create unrest” in Opposition-ruled states. “The recent murder of an Abohar businessman was carried out on the orders of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who is in resting in a Gujarat jail with support of the BJP government there,” he told reporters before the starting of the Assembly session.

“Why is he being kept in an Ahmedabad jail? The BJP wants to keep these gangsters under its grip and use them for creating unrest in states where it does not have a government,” he added.

The Abohar businessman was murdered in broad daylight by three assailants on July 7, after which gangster Aarzoo Bishnoi had allegedly claimed responsibility for it through a Facebook post.

Aarzoo Bishnoi had been associated with Lawrence Bishnoi in the past.