Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today asked Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to tell what more proof he needed of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators’ running drug trafficking operations after the arrest of Khemkaran legislator Sarwan Singh Dhun’s nephew with one kilogram of heroin and a Pak drone.
In a statement here, the SAD president said “The SAD has been repeatedly asserting that AAP legislators are hand in glove with drug traffickers and are even pressurising the State police not to act against the drug mafia. The arrest of Dhun’s nephew proves that AAP legislators are indulging in drug trafficking with impunity”.
Asserting that all this amounted to the complete failure of the chief minister in controlling the drug menace, Mr Sukhbir Badal said “ Bhagwant Mann has failed to take heed to both the Punjab and Haryana high court, central agencies as well as the State Governor – all of whom had held that the political – police – drug mafia nexus had given a boost to drug trafficking in the State. The chief minister has completely failed in his role as home minister and should resign from this post immediately”.
Asserting that both the chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Convener Arvind Kejriwal were responsible for this state of affairs, Badal said “Sarwan Singh Dhun has a known record of indulging in drug smuggling and was arrested for the same in 2002 and even did a jail term. It is condemnable that the Kattar Imandaar Party not only gave a ticket to Dhun but had given him full authority to continue with his nefarious activities which were exposed today with the arrest of his nephew”.
Badal also questioned the chief minister why he was patronising the illegal activities of his legislators. He said earlier Khadoor Sahab legislator Manjinder Singh Lalpura’s brother-in-law was caught indulging in illegal mining but instead of taking strict action against him, the Tarn Taran SSP was transferred.
The SAD president said the drug menace had become so alarming that the high court had accused the State police of colluding with drug smugglers. “State Governor Banwarilal Purohit has during a tour of the border villages observed that drugs were now available in ‘kiryana’ shops”. He said the chief minister, who had promised to wipe out the drug menace within weeks, should take moral responsibility for his failure to do so.
