SAD asks Jail minister Randhawa to look at own functioning before trying to bully State police into increasing his security cover.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today asked Jails and Cooperation minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa to first look at his own functioning as well as the example he was setting by receiving congratulatory messages from prisoners in jail besides consulting gangsters on how to conduct jail reforms before trying to bully the State police for not increasing his security cover. In a statement, former minister and party spokesman Maheshinder Singh Grewal said it seemed Sukhjinder Randhawa wanted Punjab Police commandos at his beck and call. “There is no other reason for him to trumpet that he was receiving dire threats to his life when he has shared whatever information he had with top most police officials. It is not possible that the State police would not look after the security concerns of a cabinet minister. The minister has violated the principle of collective responsibility by going public with his allegations instead of talking about his concerns with chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh. He has also shown that he does not have any faith in his own chief minister who holds the Home portfolio by referring to mismanagement in the home department”. Stating that security was granted on threat perception based on intelligence inputs, the Akali leader said it seemed that Randhawa was indulging in such actions to cover up his own failures with incidents of lawlessness increasing in Punjab jails with even the chief minister received a threat from inside the jail premises. “All this has only served the purpose of demoralizing the police force”, he added. Asking Randhawa to introspect on his actions before indulging in a public spat with senior police officers solely because they had refused his unreasonable demands to increase his security cover substantially, the Akali leader said the very fact that a gangster had rung him up from jail to congratulate him on his elevation as minister spoke volumes about the company he kept. Mr Grewal said even more dangerous was the talks the Jail minister had with a gangster to take suggestions on jail reforms. “People would understand if he had gone to meet a former cop of the stature of Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi to discuss jail reforms or held discussions with former police officials. However the very fact that Randhawa invited a gangster to discuss policies to be implemented in jails has had a direct bearing on the jail administration and is bound to demoralize jail staff”.administration and is bound to demoralize jail staff”.
