Expressing 'deepest sorrow and outrage' over the Moga bus tragedy, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Friday assured strictest punishment to the perpetrators of the
incident.
"I am with the grieving family in their hour of extreme sorrow and want to assure them that those responsible for bringing this tragedy will be given exemplary punishment under the law of the land...I am personally and deeply anguished over the incident, the more so because of the bus in which it happened," Badal said in a statement.
"It is absurd even to think that the incident of the company's ownership would allow such brutality and brazenness to go unpunished me," he added.
The Punjab Deputy Chief Minister further said that the Congress is making 'irresponsible' and 'inhuman' statements over the incident to gain lost political ground in the state.
"I am deeply pained by the utterly irresponsible and inhuman statements emerging from some Congress leaders. Instead of helping in assuaging the wounded feelings of the affected family, the opposition leaders have been gleefully latching on to it as an opportunity to buy their lost political relevance in Punjab. That really saddens me," he said.
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Badal also said that he had directed the law enforcing agencies to take the matter to its logical conclusion expeditiously and to ensure that justice is done.
Meanwhile, the Punjab government today set up a high level committee headed by the state Chief Secretary, Sarvesh Kaushal, to suggest ways to ensure complete safety and security to commuters in public transport.
The Congress earlier in the day staged a protested against the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) government in Punjab over the Moga incident and demanded a case to be filed against Sukhbir Singh Badal.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also staged a protest against the incident in front of a police station in Moga.
The incident refers to the death of a 13-year-old girl, with her mother suffering serious injuries after they were allegedly pushed out of a moving bus after being molested in Moga, Punjab.
The bus reportedly belongs to Orbit Transport Company, which is owned by the ruling Badal family.
The police have impounded the bus.