MLA Aditya Devi Lal calls govt’s anti-drug drive ‘sham’

Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader and Dabwali MLA Aditya Devi Lal has criticised the Haryana Government’s anti-drug campaign, calling it a hollow exercise carried out for show rather than real impact. He alleged that the previous Superintendent of Police had pressurised village panchayats into declaring their villages as drug-free, even when drugs were easily available in those areas.

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Aditya Chautala was addressing party workers in Sirsa on Thursday.

Citing specific examples, Aditya Chautala said at Chautala village, which had been declared drug-free, two people were later found with drugs. Similarly, members of the Masitan village panchayat were reportedly forced into making false claims under the administrative pressure, he said.

The MLA expressed serious doubts over the effectiveness of the campaign and raised concerns over current Superintendent of Police Nikita Khattar. He said, “Over 165 villages have been officially marked as drug-free, but illegal substances continue to circulate in those very areas, and addicts are still being arrested.”

He also highlighted a number of recent drug-related deaths, stating that young lives were being lost while the authorities claimed campaign’s success. He said in Mochiwala village, a 20-year-old youth died from a drug overdose, while similar cases had been reported in Naharana village and at the grain market in Ding, where a young man’s body was found.

In Dabwali’s Abushahar village, a 26-year-old youth died reportedly due to drug overdose. Aditya Devi Lal said the open sale of drugs continues unabated across the state and that symbolic gestures like one-day bicycle rallies would do nothing to stop the spread of menace. He urged the state government to stop pretending and start taking real and concrete steps to tackle the drug crisis.