Chandigarh, Sep 18 (IANS) Congress MP Manish Tiwari on Friday expressed concern over the killing of Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Harjit Singh in Amritsar, saying the incident showed that the law and order situation in Punjab was "not normal" and called for stronger measures by both the Centre and the state government. Reacting to the killing, Tiwari said it was “extremely sad and unfortunate” that a policeman was shot multiple times and lost his life while on duty.“It clearly shows that the law and order situation is not normal. Punjab is a border state, and there is interference from external forces, particularly our neighbouring country Pakistan. Drugs and weapons also come through drones,” Tiwari said.He said ensuring a strong and robust law and order situation in Punjab was the responsibility of both the Central and state governments, particularly in view of the state’s border location and the challenges posed by the flow of drugs and weapons.Meanwhile, police officials said ASI Harjit Singh was shot dead by two unidentified motorcycle-borne men while he was on duty at the Grain Market in Bhagtanwala, Amritsar.

According to police, the incident took place around 3 a.m. when the assailants approached the officer and fired multiple bullets at him from point-blank range. Singh was rushed to a nearby private hospital following the attack, where he was declared brought dead. He was a resident of Tarn Taran district.Police have begun investigating the circumstances surrounding the shooting and the identity of the assailants.Speaking separately on the drug situation in Punjab, Tiwari said the state continued to face a serious problem and referred to what he described as the emergence of “narco-terrorism” after the end of the era of terrorism in Punjab in 1995.“When the era of terrorism ended in Punjab in 1995, Pakistan started an era of narco-terrorism. It took about one-and-a-half decades for people to fully understand what was happening,” he said.Tiwari said that by 2009-2010, people had begun to recognise what he described as a coordinated conspiracy aimed at weakening Punjab and the country. He added that successive governments had subsequently attempted to address the problem.“But if anyone says that Punjab does not have a drug problem today, they are misleading the people of Punjab,” Tiwari said, adding that the issue was not confined to Punjab and that the wider northern region, including Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana, faced a serious drug problem.In a separate statement, Tiwari also reacted to the Election Commission of India’s interim order freezing the Trinamool Congress’ name and election symbol. He said the party’s symbol had been in existence since its inception in the 1990s and alleged that freezing it was “actuated by mala fide” and undermined the essence of parliamentary democracy.“The order will have to be studied in detail, and once we study the order in detail, we will come back with a more structured response,” he said.

/IANS