'50 bombs' remark: Congress rallies behind Bajwa as party leader questioned for over 6 hours, slams AAP

Chandigarh: Senior Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa was on Tuesday quizzed for around six hours by police in connection with an FIR registered against him over his "50 bombs have reached Punjab" statement.

After coming out of the Cyber Crime Police Station in Punjab's Mohali, Bajwa termed his questioning as a "sustained interrogation" and said his targeting by the state's AAP government was "political vendetta".

Bajwa, the Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, also said calling him to the police station was an "insult" to the constitutional post he holds and alleged that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann could not "digest" his expressing concern over the current law and order situation in the state.

"A sustained interrogation took place. We gave replies strongly... I was questioned for six hours," Bajwa told reporters.

He also thanked the "overwhelming" support he got from the Congress leaders and workers following the registration of the FIR.

Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and Congress MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa among other leaders welcomed Bajwa after he came out of the police station.

Earlier in the day, Punjab Congress leaders including the party's rank and file accompanied Bajwa to the police station. While only Bajwa and his counsel were allowed inside, the leaders and workers staged a sit-in outside the building and raised slogans against the AAP government.

National leaders including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi were in regular touch with the state leadership and were closely monitoring the situation, said the state unit leaders.

The state Congress leadership hit out at the state's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, accusing it of misusing the state police to target opposition leaders.

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.