Mann should own responsibility for hooch deaths: MP Aujla
Amritsar Member of Parliament (MP) GS Aujla on Friday sought an independent probe by a sitting High Court Judge “to expose the unholy nexus of drug-liquor mafia, patronised by politicians and the police that was behind the hooch tragedy in Majitha, Amritsar”.
Holding Chief Minister (CM) Bhagwant Mann responsible for failing to act against the mafia during the past three years, the MP said it was not the first time that deaths had happened due to spurious liquor. Be it the Capt Amarinder Singh-led Congress government or the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government, the mafia has been running its operations smoothly for the past many years.
“The Majitha deaths should have been eye-opener for the state. We do not need a hostile neighbour like Pakistan to ruin our youth, the drug-liquor mafia is now like a mini-Pakistan with Punjab that was prospering at the cost of the lives of Punjabis,” he said while seeking the resignation of the CM and the civil and police officer concerned.
The MP advocated that the government should ensure the availability of affordable quality liquor to the poor, instead of focusing on increasing revenue collection from excise. “Good quality liquor is not being sold at the actual price, but at a higher rate due to which the poor class is being forced to buy cheap and spurious liquor. The government is pushing the poor to death by selling expensive liquor at liquor shops,” he pointed out.
He said, “The Punjab Government's ‘war on drugs’ has no connect whatsoever with the situation’s ground reality, otherwise this tragedy would not have happened. In 2020, 120 deaths were reported due to spurious liquor in Amritsar, Batala and Tarn Taran. After that, in March 2024, 20 persons died due to spurious liquor in Sangrur. "No one knows what was done to the culprits and that is why people have no fear of the law, now it has happened again in my constituency,".
The MP further said, “I have been raising the alarm by writing to the DGP and government officials, highlighting the worsening drug crisis — particularly in Amritsar and the border areas. I have consistently exposed the deep-rooted drug nexus and repeatedly brought the issue to the attention of the government to the drugs and now, spurious liquor issue, but all my missives were ignored.”
He also sought sending a high-level delegation under a Supreme Court Judge to Punjab to investigate the manufacture and supply of drugs and poisonous liquor in Amritsar and other parts of the state and to pinpoint who were the people behind these nefarious activities.
