Drugs, sacrilege major challenges for Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann

Tribune News Service

Jupinderjit Singh
Chandigarh, March 21

Finding a lasting solution to the menace of drugs smuggling and addiction, justice in sacrilege and police firing incidents, besides handling "corruption" in the police would be the biggest challenges for Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann who has retained the Home portfolio.

Minister warns peddlers

• Cabinet minister Laljit Singh Bhullar has got warnings issued to drug peddlers through public address systems installed at gurdwaras in Patti
• On his behalf, the gurdwara priest in Usma village said whosoever involved in drug trade, irrespective of being a supporter of any party, including the AAP, should not expect any sympathy or leniency if he or she is on the wrong side of law.

‘Overdose’ claims another life in Moga

Moga: A day after a 19-year-old youth allegedly died of drug overdose in Moga, another 26-year old youth, as Ravinder Singh of Dholewala village, breath his last on Monday due to drug abuse. TNS

Almost seven years since the first incident of sacrilege when a 'bir' was stolen from Burj Jawahar Singh Wala, the conspirators are yet to be arrested. Latest police investigation has named 10 followers of Dera Sacha Sauda, but it is yet unknown who exactly in the dera was the mastermind.

Similarly, the police have not yet established who ordered firing at a mob protesting the sacrilege incidents at Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura. An SIT under ADGP LK Yadav, probing the firing incident, has not submitted its final report so far.

Though people's movement against drugs has begun with the change in the government after some panchayats took on peddlers, the government will require massive combing operations to eradicate the menace. Most challenging would be to tackle the alleged police protection to drug smugglers by identifying and punishing errant police officials.

As many as 52,656 FIRs were registered for drug smuggling and peddling since January 2017. Cops have arrested 68,575 persons in the cases. As a majority of these were addicts, the government faces an uphill task of de-addiction and rehabilitation.

The state jails too are under pressure. At present, more than half of the 24,000 inmates in Punjab jails are addicts or peddlers.

Apart from maintenance of general law and order, the new CM will have to take head-on attempts to prevent terrorism in the state.

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