Amit Shah targets Punjab government: ‘Drug web growing, those raising voices unsafe’

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday accused the AAP government in Punjab of failing to protect those speaking out against drug trafficking, as he visited the families of three anti-drug activists who died in separate incidents across the state, assuring them of justice and a thorough investigation.

“The growing web of drugs in Punjab and the emboldened drug traffickers have raised serious questions about the functioning of the AAP government,” Shah said in a statement, adding that “those raising their voices against drugs were not safe”.

Hours before Shah arrived in Punjab, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced that the state government was handing over the investigation into the murder of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota to the CBI. “We stand firmly with Parvinder Singh Jhota’s father and his family at all times as they fight against drugs. Respecting the family’s demand, we are handing over this case to the CBI. Our fight against drug traffickers is a battle to the finish. We will not back down from taking whatever stringent steps are necessary to make Punjab drug-free,” Mann said.

During the day, Shah met Jhota’s family in Mansa, the family of Gulzar Singh in Tur Banjara village in Sangrur district, and the family of Bikramjit Singh in Gurdaspur. The visits came amid mounting concerns over the drug menace in the state and allegations that those raising their voices were being targeted.

Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee members and supporters stage a protest outside the residence of Punjab Cabinet Minister Harbhajan Singh against the killing of Parvinder Singh Jhota, in Amritsar on Monday. (ANI)

Later, addressing the media at Ludhiana’s Punjab Agricultural University, Shah questioned the AAP government over its failure to make a single arrest under the PITNDPS Act, forensic reports pending for years and other “loopholes” in tackling the drug menace. “Neither the people of Punjab, nor I have any hopes from you,” said Shah, blaming the AAP government for “grassroots level drug trade prevalent in each village of Punjab”.

Quipping that Mann “did one good thing” by handing over Jhota’s murder case to the CBI, Shah said, “I would like to promise the people of Punjab that all the accused in Jhota’s killing, no matter how big or influential they are, we will find and dig them out from paatal (hell) and put them behind the bars to face the law and the court.”

The Union Home Minister said the state government should hand over the two other drug-related murder cases to the CBI. “For my entire life, I won’t be able to forget this Vijayadashmi… People who speak against drugs in Punjab are either murdered or forced to commit suicide… I never felt this sad and distressed before even as I meet grieving families across country but Punjab’s pain has made me extremely sad. The reality of Punjab, as narrated by these families, is even grimmer than what we read in papers sitting in Delhi… it is far worse.”

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“I want to ask some questions from the AAP-led Punjab government… do they have any answers to someone losing their son, husband, brother? Do they have any answers except making excuses?” he said.

“I would like to remind the AAP leadership that you are ruling here with a pre-poll promise that you made in 2022 that you will end drugs within three months. It has been five years but the drug trade has only increased. Even your police are held with 10 kg heroin in routine,” he said.

Slamming the AAP for blaming the BJP for drugs coming via the Gujarat and Maharashtra ports, Shah said: “Let me inform them that instead drugs worth Rs 20,000 crore have been confiscated from these two ports. Are they saying we should not confiscate them? But how does that drug get packed in a pudiya (packet) and reach Punjab? How does it reach Punjab’s young boys and girls? Is it possible without the support, protection of political patronage?”