Launching a blistering attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Thursday accused it of protecting notorious gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and using him as a tool to destabilize non-BJP ruled states, including Punjab. Cheema, addressing the media shortly after the special session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, questioned why Bishnoi — linked to multiple high-profile crimes — continues to be lodged in Gujarats Sabarmati Jail despite being the alleged mastermind behind several killings in Punjab. Why is Lawrence Bishnoi still in Gujarat jail? Why is he not in a Punjab prison where most of his crimes have been committed? What is the BJP trying to hide? Cheema asked, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, being from Gujarat, must answer why a gangster responsible for targeted killings in Punjab is being sheltered in his home state. Cheema alleged that Bishnoi, while lodged in Gujarat since 2014, has continued to orchestrate killings across the country — including the 2022 assassination of singer Sidhu Moosewala, threats to actor Salman Khan, the 2023 firing outside Khans residence, and the 2023 killing of NCP leader Baba Siddique. This man takes responsibility for every murder from inside the jail. What is this if not complicity? Cheema said. The Minister announced that the Punjab Government will now move to bring Bishnoi to Punjab on a production warrant. Enough is enough. We will not allow anyone — be it a gangster or a political party — to disrupt law and order in Punjab. We will deal with such elements with an iron hand, he asserted, citing the recent murder of businessman Sanjay Verma in Abohar, for which Bishnois gang has claimed responsibility. Cheema didnt spare other political parties either, accusing the BJP, Congress, and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) of nurturing gangsters and enabling the drug mafia during their respective regimes. These parties are staging a farce now. They created the rot, and we are the ones cleaning it, he declared. He pointed fingers at the Congress for providing VIP treatment to dreaded gangster Mukhtar Ansari in Punjab jails, and at SAD leaders for allegedly sheltering anti-social elements. Police records speak volumes about how SAD leaders patronized criminals. The Congress too allowed gangsters to flourish under the garb of political protection, Cheema said. Responding to criticism over the recent police encounters, which some allege were staged, Cheema defended the Punjab Police. The truth will come out soon. Our officers are doing their job, and their actions will silence all critics, he said. Cheema dismissed the oppositions claims about deteriorating law and order in Punjab as political theatre. Instead of shouting in press conferences, why doesnt the BJP take a delegation to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and demand that Bishnoi be sent to Punjab? Why is he being protected in Gujarat? This is not just about one gangster. This is about a legacy of impunity that previous governments institutionalized. We inherited a system poisoned by criminal collusion. But we are dismantling it — piece by piece, he said.

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