Chandigarh, Jul 21 (IANS): Complimenting the Punjab Police and the Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) for successfully carrying out an operation to gun down two sharpshooters involved in the killing of famed Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said on Thursday that the state will soon be free of gangsters and drug peddlers.

"It is my guarantee to the people of the state that we will not allow anyone to disturb the hard-earned peace in Punjab, and every effort will be made to maintain peace and communal harmony in the state by making it free of gangsters and drug peddlers," the Chief Minister said.

During a meeting with Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav and other officers, who called on him at his official residence here, Mann said that gangsters and drug peddlers were patronised by the previous governments.

He said under the protection of Akalis and Congress, gangsters and drug peddlers had a free run in the state because their masters used them for their own vested political interests.

However, Mann said that after assuming charge, his government accorded top priority to free Punjab of gangsters and drug smugglers, adding that the day is not far when all of them will be behind the bars.

The Chief Minister said the action of Punjab Police on Wednesday to eliminate two sharpshooters involved in the killing of Moosewala was in consonance with the zero-tolerance policy of the government against gangsters and anti-social elements.

Mann said the AGTF had identified the sharpshooters after which the police zeroed down on the abandoned building in Amritsar district where they were hiding, adding that the Punjab Police carried out the operation in a highly professional manner by displaying exemplary courage.

During the meeting, the DGP and AGTF head Pramod Ban apprised the Chief Minister about the entire operation.