No relief for kin of deceased, says CM

Monday, 28/08/2017

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/no-relief-for-kin-of-deceased-says-cm/458597.html

Bathinda : Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh today said the state government would not give any compensation to the families of dera followers who were killed in the Panchkula carnage in the wake of the court verdict against Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

The victims had illegally assembled in Panchkula, hence there was no question of any compensation, he said, while addressing the media during his visit to the city.

PPCC president Sunil Jakhar, Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal and DGP Suresh Arora were accompanying him.

Besides Bathinda, the Chief Minister toured the areas of Mansa, Maur, Balluana (Bathinda rural), Gidderbaha and Malout, where he met people and security forces to thank them for ensuring complete law and order amid mounting tension on Friday.

The CM stopped his cavalcade at every chowk from Mansa to Muktsar via Bathinda and offered fruit to the security personnel.

‘Haryana to blame’

Amarinder accused the Haryana Government of negligence in maintaining law and order. Responding to a question, he said the Haryana CM had made no attempt to get in touch with him even though the Punjab intelligence agencies were regularly providing their counterparts in the neighbouring state with all inputs.

He said the state government had started assessing the damage to public property, for which the dera would have to pay.

“We have deployed security at all Naam Charcha Ghars in Punjab. No follower will be allowed to enter the premises till the situation turns normal,” the CM said.

He said the government had pressed into service 200 buses and trucks to ferry home around 30,000 Premis returning from Panchkula.

The day curfew in the area had been lifted and the district administrations would review the situation to lift restrictions at night in a day or two, he said.

‘Up to Centre to order probe’

Amarinder said it was up to the Centre to order a probe into the collapse of law and order that led to violence in Panchkula and other parts of Haryana, Punjab and Delhi on Friday. He, however, welcomed the Prime Minister’s strong condemnation of the violence.

Blast victims’ kin meet CM

Maur bomb blast victims’ families on Sunday met the Chief Minister at Maur. They told him that the compensation announced at the time of the incident had not been given to them so far.

They also complained about the Deputy Commissioner’s “apathetic” attitude towards their plight. The blast had rocked Maur a few days before the February 4 Assembly elections.