Punjab BJP chief Kewal Dhillon says law and order has collapsed under Bhagwant Mann government

Chandigarh. Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon on Monday accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of taking credit for bringing gangsters back from abroad. He said central agencies did that work, while killings went on unchecked inside the state.

Dhillon said fugitives hiding overseas are extradited and arrested through the Ministry of External Affairs, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Interpol and central security networks.

He was replying to Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema’s claims on the extraditions. Dhillon called it “laughably absurd” that the minister was “beating drums” to claim credit for his party when central agencies and Indian diplomatic missions had done the work.

Dhillon also turned the minister’s own words against the government. Cheema had read out a long list of crimes by these gangsters, including the murder of a 12-year-old child and of elected representatives. Dhillon said the blame for those crimes lies with the AAP government and with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who also holds the Home portfolio. He said the government had failed to protect innocent lives and must be held to account.

What did Dhillon say about the Parvinder Jhota murder?

Dhillon pointed to the killing of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota in Mansa. He said nothing exposed the “alleged complicity” of the AAP government more than activists fighting drugs being shot dead in broad daylight while the administration stayed a “mute spectator”.

“In the AAP government’s ‘Badlav’, drug cartels, gangsters and extortionists operate with complete impunity, while anti-drug warriors like Parvinder Jhota have to pay with their lives,” Dhillon said.

“It took a 26-day protest and an autopsy at PGIMER Chandigarh just to get an anti-drug activist cremated. During this, his grieving, elderly father Bapu Bhim Singh was forced to sit on a hunger strike outside the hospital demanding basic action against police officials allegedly in collusion with peddlers,” he said.

“If the government is truly acting against crime, why was an activist murdered on Facebook Live while exposing the illicit sale of narcotics?” he asked.

Jhota was a former boxer known for exposing the illegal sale of drugs at chemist shops. He was shot dead inside a medical store in a busy Mansa market on October 13 while streaming on Facebook Live. The CBI has since taken over the case.

Chief Minister Mann had promised a thorough investigation into the murder. According to PTI, the state government suspended an SHO, a DSP and a drug inspector after the killing. It later promised the family ₹2 crore in compensation, and on November 4 the family agreed to the post-mortem.

Are gangsters running their gangs from Punjab jails?

Dhillon alleged that under AAP rule, Punjab’s jails have become “five-star operational headquarters” for extortionists and gang bosses. He said they run criminal gangs from inside and even give media interviews from behind bars.

What has the BJP demanded from the Mann government?

The BJP asked the government to stop blaming others and holding “scripted press conferences” to take false credit. It said the government must tell people why traders, doctors and ordinary citizens are living in constant fear, and why it has given the drug-gangster nexus a free hand.

Punjab Assembly elections are due in 2027.