Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann meets Home Minister Amit Shah, discusses Ajnala incident; Centre sends 18 CRPF-RAF companies

PTI

New Delhi, March 2

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and said the Centre and the state will work together on the law and order issue, even as about 1,900 personnel of the CRPF and its specialised anti-riot unit were being dispatched to the state for strengthening the security grid. The two leaders discussed the law and order issue. Mann told Shah about the circumstances leading to the Ajnala incident, sources said.

On February 23, self-styled Sikh preacher and Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh and his supporters, some of them brandishing swords and guns, broke through barricades and barged into a police station in Ajnala on the outskirts of the Amritsar city, extracting an assurance from the police that his aide and kidnapping case accused Lovepreet Singh would be released.

 The chief minister said in a tweet in Punjabi that the “Centre and Punjab will work together on the issue of law and order”.

Official sources added that the Union home ministry last week also directed the deployment of 18 companies to Punjab for “aid of the state government during law and order duties.” Out of the 18 contingents, eight are drawn from the anti-riot Rapid Action Force (RAF) while the rest are regular ones. The overall strength of these companies is around 19,000 personnel.

These companies have been initially tasked to be deployed in Punjab between March 6-16 and their stay could be extended after consultation between the state and the Centre, the sources said.

They said the companies will assist the state police in security duties during the three-day Sikh festival of ‘Hola Mohalla’ that will be celebrated between March 8-10.

The chief minister said he had discussed with the home minister the issue of drones and drugs along the border. He said the issue of shifting the barbed wire along the border was also discussed. Mann said he has asked Shah to release Punjab’s stalled rural development fund soon.

The central government officials said the Union Home Ministry is “closely monitoring” the situation in Punjab in the wake of renewed activities of some Khalistani supporters.

The Punjab Police said on February 24 that the demonstrators had used the holy Guru Granth Sahib as a shield and attacked police personnel in a cowardly manner, leaving six of them injured. Lovepreet Singh walked out of jail on February 24.

Dubai-returned Amritpal Singh was last year anointed head of ‘Waris Punjab De’, which was founded by actor and activist Deep Sidhu who died in a road accident in February last year. The event was held at Moga’s Rode, the native village of slain militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. PTI

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