Chandigarh, Jul 2 (IANS): Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday said the government will not pay Rs 55 lakh spent on cozy stay of dreaded criminal Mukhtar Ansari in jails of the state and will recover this money from former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and former deputy CM Sukhjinder Randhawa.

In a statement here, the Chief Minister said this was a serious crime against the state and its people, adding that those involved in it will have to pay for it.

He said for reasons best known to them both Capt Amarinder Singh and Randhawa extended largesse to notorious gangster for his comfortable stay in jails of Punjab.

Mann said why should the state waste taxpayer's money in this way just because those in power at that time had a strong bond with Ansari.

The Chief Minister said this is brazen loot of the public money which cannot be tolerated. For reasons best known to the previous regimes this notorious criminal was kept in the Ropar jail with full comforts.

Mann said apart from ensuring comfortable stay the state government ensured that this hardcore criminal does not face any sort of difficulty within the jail and escapes the legal action against him.

The Chief Minister said that surprisingly the then government spent Rs 55 lakh of taxpayers' money to safeguard the interests of this criminal lodged in the Jail.

He said this atrocious loot of the public money is totally unwarranted and undesirable, adding this open plundering of the common man's money cannot be tolerated at any cost.

He said Capt Amarinder Singh and Randhawa will have to pay this money from their own pocket else their pensions and other benefits will be stopped to recover this money.