Punjab Congress Chief Amarinder Singh today claimed that the law and order situation has deteriorated to such an extent that the state was on the brink of "jungle raj".
"The organised crime is not only getting institutionalised but glamourised as well in Punjab and that is the worst thing that can happen to a state," he warned in a statement issued here, while referring to the recent statements of Director General of Police Suresh Arora about the crime situation in the backdrop of daily incidents of killings, kidnappings, loot and robbery taking place in the state.
The former chief minister said, people were feeling insecure as criminal gangs have stopped fearing law and referred to the kidnapping of a school girl in Patiala.
However, he added not everybody was lucky to return home safe and alive, as there were other victims who lost their lives, like a young boy in Kapurthala whose parents could not pay the ransom and police failed to act on time.
"It is primarily because the Akalis have totally subjugated and subverted the system of policing in Punjab that the killings and kidnappings by the organised gangs have become a routine affair," Amarinder alleged, adding that not only were the Akalis patronising the criminals, they had also subjugated the police, as officers like the SHOs and the DSPs were not reporting to their SSPs, but to the local Akali MLAs.
He also alleged that daily transfers of the lower rung police officials are purely done for political considerations depending on the proximity of the officers with their Akali patrons.
"This is total subversion of the system and how can you expect police to act in a professional way?" he asked, blaming the Akalis for the state of anarchy and warning that it can push the state into "jungle raj".
The PCC president said this atmosphere of fear had never prevailed in Punjab.
"People were not so much scared even during the militancy as they are now, as anybody can rob you of your car and put a gun on your shoulder and abduct you for a ransom," he said.
