Delhi cops made no effort to arrest Lakha: Punjab Police

CHANDIGARH: Punjab Police says neither there is written information about Lakha being a fugitive in the Republic Day violence case nor on presence of Delhi Police in Bathinda on Tuesday

Chandigarh A day after Republic Day violence fugitive and gangster-turned-activist Lakha Sidhana addressed a gathering in Mehraj village of Bathinda and disappeared, Punjab Police claims that there is no official communication from the Delhi Police about his ‘wanted’ status.

“Till date, the Bathinda police neither have any official (written or verbal) communication from the Delhi Police regarding Lakha being wanted in the Republic Day violence case nor that there is a reward of ₹1 lakh for information leading to his arrest. How could we arrest him at a rally attended by hundreds of his supporters,” a top Punjab Police functionary said.

Another senior police officer, who was personally monitoring the situation, said Delhi Police also follows Punjab Police rules and there is Form 12 which, as a rule, is shared with the police of the state a wanted person belongs to or is hiding, but that didn’t happen in this case. Form 12 has information about the fugitive concerned, he said.

“But no such communication has been made so far with the Bathinda police by any of the police stations of the national capital,” a senior police functionary privy with the developments said. Lakha, 45, belongs to Sidhana village of Rampura-phull sub-division in Bathinda district.

Another official said that Bathinda police had no information regarding the presence of Delhi Police officials in the district to nab Lakha and there was no question of Punjab Police could have detained or arrested him on their own.

“To arrest a person wanted in other states, a set procedure is followed where the team of the state police where the case is registered comes with the arrest warrants or the case files. Delhi Police team was not in Bathinda and no such effort was made on their part on Tuesday to nab Lakha,” the police functionary said.

At the Tuesday rally, Lakha

dared the Delhi Police to arrest him and warned chief minister Amarinder Singh to not let Punjab Police assist Delhi cops nabb those accused of R-day violence. Punjab Police also clarified that

since the case against Lakha has been registered in the national capital and the gangster-turnedactivist is not wanted in any case in Punjab, only Delhi Police have to take initiative to arrest him.