Instead of pretending of forming an SIT to curb illegal mining, Captain should make public names included in the report of mining department: Harpal Singh Cheema

Chandigarh: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has termed Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh's government move of forming a Special Investigating Team (SIT) to curb illegal mining as a drama. In a statement issued from the party headquarters, senior leader of the party and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Punjab Assembly, Harpal Singh Cheema said that the Congress, which was involved in illegal mining, wanted to mislead the people by making such dramas to save the Akali leaders. He said that instead of making such dramas, Captain Amarinder Singh should make public the names of the people involved in the recent report submitted by the Mining Department in this regard. "Captain Amarinder Singh has been working day and night to save those whose names are included in the report sent by the mining department," he added.

Cheema said that Captain Amarinder Singh had promised the people during the 2017 elections that he would form a corporation to curb illegal mining but now four years have passed since he came to power, but Captain Amarinder has not spoken yet. Taking a dig at Captain Amarinder Singh, Cheema said that Captain was now taking a large sum of money from the mining mafia as a share, which was earlier given to the Badals during the Akali Dal government. He said that the Akali Dal and the Congress were equally responsible for plundering the precious resources of the state, who had nothing to do with Punjab but were just filling their pockets. He said that this was the reason why Captain Amarinder Singh did not take any action against the Badals and this was the proof of Captain's collusion with them.

The LoP further said that there were daily reports of illegal mining in Punjab on a large scale but Captain was busy resting in his royal farm house. He said that the Captain government instead of punishing the accused, was working for their protection. Cheema said that after coming to power, Captain Amarinder Singh who had promised to eradicate all forms of 'mafia' from Punjab before the elections had taken the same mafia forward by adopting the 'corruption model' being run by the Badals. He said that Captain Amarinder Singh had made promises to the people by holding Sri Gutka Sahib in his hands, but now reneging on those promises, he had betrayed the people of Punjab.