Chandigarh (PTI): Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu on Monday called Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann the “most protected CM” while slamming his AAP government for pruning slain singer Sidhu Moosewala’s security last year and his own security detail now.

Sidhu visited the Punjabi singer’s parents in Mansa district, expressing grief over the death of Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, popularly known as Sidhu Moosewala. He was shot dead on May 29 last year, after the Punjab Police temporarily pruned the security being given then to about 400 people.

The Congress leader came out of the Patiala Central Jail on Saturday after serving nearly 10 months in a 1988 road rage case.

Addressing the media here, with the singer’s parents beside him, the cricketer-turned-politician slammed the Aam Aadmi Party government over law and order.

Referring to Moosewala, Sidhu said, “He was global star. Why was his security pruned? Does it ever happen that you reduce security and make it public?” “What happened with him, the same thing is happening with another Sidhu today,” he added, claiming that the Z Plus security he earlier got is now down to 13 personnel.

“I want to say that I am not afraid of death,” he added.

Sidhu claimed that Mann used to say there was no need for any security for him.“Today you are the most protected CM,” he said, adding that vehicles cannot be seen in the dust raised by his cavalcade.

He also raised questions over security in jail premises, referring to a purported TV interview of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi while in prison. The state government has 2G mobile jammers while the gangsters have 5G phones, he claimed.

He said jails have turned into ‘suvidha centres’ – or convenience points – for crime because politicians use youths who have gone astray. Gangsters are being used “political pawns” now, he charged.

Moosewala joined the Congress in December 2021 when Sidhu was the chief of the party’s Punjab unit. He contested next year for the Mansa seat on a Congress ticket, but lost.

The singer’s parents recently sat on a protest outside the Punjab Assembly complex, saying that the masterminds behind his murder were still on the run.

Sidhu, who was sentenced to a year in jail by the Supreme Court last year in a 1988 road rage case, targeted the BJP-led Centre on Saturday, saying that democracy is in fetters.

He also claimed that a conspiracy is being hatched to impose President’s Rule in Punjab.