Union Minister Gadkari writes to CM Bhagwant Mann over alleged attacks on engineers, contractors of NHAI

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, on Saturday wrote a letter to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann over alleged attacks on engineers and contractors in Jalandhar and Ludhiana.

Gadkari wrote in his letter, "I have been informed about two untoward incidents that occurred recently on the Delhi-Katra expressway projects. In one incident in Jalandhar District, the Engineer of the Contractor was brutally assaulted. Although FIR has been registered in this regard, strong action is required to be taken against the perpetrators. In another incident in Ludhiana District, the Project camp of the Contractor of the Delhi-Katra Expressway was attacked by miscreants who also threatened the Engineers to burn the project camp and their staff alive. However, an FIR has still not been filed and the miscreants have not been arrested despite written requests by NHAI officers."

He further requested that the state government should take corrective measures immediately. File FIRs and take strong action against the perpetrators in order to prevent such incidents in the future and to restore the confidence of NHAI officers and staff of the concessionaires.

"It is pertinent to note that due to pending issues related to land acquisition and the prevailing law and order conditions, concessionaires have requested to foreclose contracts and have raised claims against NHAI.

If the situation does not improve, NHAI will have no other option but to cancel/ terminate eight other severely affected projects with a total length of 293 km costing 14,288 crore," Gadkari added in his letter to CM Mann.

Reacting to this, Punjab Inspector General of Police, Sukhchain Singh Gill said that the case is under CM review and they have constituted an SIT on it and FIR has been registered.

"The law and order situation is under control. There were two such incidents and we will look for security if needed by NHAI," Gill added.