Bajwa spread 'baseless canard to create terror' Bhagwant Mann on Congress leader's '50 bombs' claim

Sangrur), Apr 15 (PTI) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann kept up his attack against Partap Singh Bajwa for his "50 bombs have reached Punjab" statement, alleging the Congress leader spread "baseless canard to create terror".
    Mann has been criticising the opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly for his claim.
    Bajwa has been booked under sections 197(1)(d) (false and misleading information that endangers the country's sovereignty and unity) and 353(2) (false statements intended to create enmity and hatred or ill will) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
    Addressing a gathering on Tuesday, Mann said it was shameful that Bajwa was dragging his feet on sharing information about the bombs and waiting for some untoward incident to take place.
    "If Bajwa has some tangible information, what is stopping him from disclosing it?" Mann asked.
    Bajwa is probably waiting for the bombs to explode so that he can play politics and mislead the people, he alleged.
    The Congress leader has spread "baseless canard to create terror" in the minds of the state's people, he added.
    Bajwa had claimed in an interview with a private television channel, "I have come to know that 50 bombs have reached Punjab. Of these, 18 have exploded, 32 are yet to go off."
    Mann said a case had been registered against Bajwa for "misleading" people.
    A leader of this stature should not indulge in such "cheap gimmicks to hoodwink the people by making such baseless claims", the chief minister said.
    Rather than making such irrational statements, the opposition leader must pursue value-based politics, he added.
    Mann said the traditional parties were envious of him because they were unable to digest the fact that the son of a common man was "effectively" governing the state.
    People of the state have "lost" their faith in the traditional parties because of their "anti-people and anti-Punjab stance", he added.
    Bajwa was on Tuesday quizzed for around six hours by police in connection with the FIR registered against him over his statement.
    After coming out of the Cyber Crime police station in Mohali around 8 pm, Bajwa termed his questioning a "sustained interrogation" and said his targeting by the state's AAP government was "political vendetta".

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)