BATHINDA: It was unjustified on the part of the state government to curtail the security of famous singer and Congress leader Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, better known as Sidhu Moose Wala, and make the fact public, Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said on Thursday. During his meeting with Moose Wala’s parents at their house in Moosa village in Mansa on Thursday, the minister said the security was with drawn all of a sudden without any reason, making the protectee vulnerable to any attack.
Targeting the AAP government in Punjab, he said the Bhagwant Mann-led government must clarify whether the threat perception was assessed or the security of over 400 persons was curtailed without any revision of threat perception and only to get goodwill on political considerations.
Sidhu Moose Wala was killed at village Jawaharke near Mansa on Sunday when, along with two friends, he was going to meet his aunt at a nearby village. Shekhawat assured justice to the family. On the possibility of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducting the probe into the killing, the Union minister said Moose Wala’s father had written a letter requesting the same, and whatever could be done on it as per law would be done. The Union minister said it was premature to say anything.
Sidhu Moose Wala’s father Balkaur Singh had written a letter to Punjab CM Mann to get the case investigated by a sitting judge of the high court and ask NIA or CBI to assist. The family has also written to Union home minister Amit Shah for the probe and provi- ded the letter to Shekhawat.
Shekhawat was accompanied by BJP state president Ashwani Sharma, and party functionaries Sunil Jakhar and Arvind Khanna.
On the reports of the use of foreign weapons in the killing, the minister said it had been found that the illegal weapons, ammunition, narcotics, and other contraband were being smuggled into the border state through drones, and going by it, the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force was increased. “However, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal had opposed it and now the people of Punjab should ask the Delhi CM why was he against it as such smuggling was causing a loss in Punjab,” Shekhawat added.
