Indiscriminate firing and rising deaths a matter of serious concern: MLA

Jalandhar: Senior Congress leader and MLA Pargat Singh expressed deep concern on Friday, saying that the ongoing criminal incidents in the Doaba region have created an atmosphere of fear among the people. Following the murder of an Aam Aadmi Party worker in Hoshiarpur yesterday, gangsters shot a student in Adampur today. The law and order situation in Punjab has reached a dangerous point, with gangsters and criminals operating with new confidence. As Punjab Home Minister, Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has clearly lost control of the state’s security system. Pargat Singh said that under the current government, incidents of robbery, extortion, gang wars, and murders have steadily increased.
Hardly a day goes by without reports of shootings or murders in urban and rural Punjab. He stressed that Doaba, being a major NRI belt, is witnessing a sharp increase in extortion cases. Jewelers have become particular targets of organized crime. Just two days ago, gold and silver jewelry worth ₹1.25 crore was looted from Joy Jewellers (Joyalukkas) in Hoshiarpur. Gangsters opened fire in broad daylight in Lakhan Kalan village in Kapurthala, while four days ago, seven to eight rounds of gunfire erupted early in the morning at Sudhir Sweets in Phagwara following extortion demands. In several cases, the violence has turned fatal. In Hoshiarpur’s Miani village, motorcycle-borne assailants shot dead AAP worker Balwinder Singh Satkartar, while his companion was shot in the shoulder. Furthermore, a young man returning from a private university in Adampur was brutally murdered during the day.
Pargat Singh also highlighted the alarming trend of bomb threat emails being sent to schools, colleges, district magistrate offices, courts, and railway stations across Punjab. He criticized the government’s cybersecurity system for its complete failure to identify the perpetrators. The government and police must clarify where these threats are coming from and what concrete action has been taken so far. He said that while the police are constantly distracted by these threatening emails, major criminals take advantage of this distraction to commit major crimes and escape. The government is failing in its primary responsibility of protecting citizens, and the peace of the state is being systematically disrupted.