Chandigarh, July 23 – Former deputy chief minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today asked the Punjab Police to stop harassing and threatening  Akali workers and leaders, saying they would be held personally responsible for becoming a vendetta tool of the Congress party.

In a statement here, the SAD president said a number of cases had come to light wherein it had been revealed that the Vigilance department was being misused to target Akalis by registering false cases against them. He said this was being done as part of a vendetta against particular workers and leaders as well as a general drive to brow beat Akali workers and force them to support the Congress party.

Mr Badal said any police officer who became a willing tool in the hands of the Congress party in its bid to victimize Akalis would be held accountable for his misdeeds when the SAD-BJP alliance is returned to power in the State. “We will take all necessary steps not only to identify and cancel all false cases but also take the strictest action against police officers who registered these in the first place. This is the only way to end victimization of innocents and we will not be found wanting in applying this balm to heal the wounds of the wronged”, he added.

The former Deputy CM said police officers on their part should understand that the difference between criminals and them ended once they started resorting to registration of criminal cases. “Registering a false case, be it on any pretext, is akin to participating in a criminal activity. Anyone doing so should desist and take corrective action to give relief to innocents immediately or be ready to face the music once the SAD-BJP government is returned to power”. He also enjoined all police officers to do their duty as per the law. “Be guided by the law and not by any other extraneous reason, particularly a false sense of loyalty to the ruling dispensation which will not be there to help you once people exercise their franchise and elect a new government in Punjab”.

Mr Badal said it was condemnable that Congress leaders started engineering atrocities against Akali workers immediately after coming into power. He said Congressmen conducted brazen killings by making announcements on loudspeakers and social media. “Congress leaders openly threatened police officers that they would be taken to task if they did not register false cases against Akalis. Even boys and young women were not spared from this vendetta drive”. He said while the SAD workers were boldly resisting this persecution, the party was also recording all the instances so that appropriate legal action could be initiated against police officers who indulged in such illegal activities”.