Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said that he would not tolerate any political interference in the hooch tragedy case, and directed the DGP to book those directly involved in the case, under section 302 of IPC, for murder.
Promising justice for the victims of the hooch case, which he termed as the biggest tragedy of recent times, the Chief Minister also mooted enhancement of punishment for spurious/illicit liquor manufacturing and smuggling under the Excise Act, to ensure those repeat offenders remain behind the bars and are not able to come out easily to indulge again in the crime.
As several ministers agreed, during a Cabinet meeting to the suggestion of Advocate General Atul Nanda that a strict law like Punjab Control of Organised Crime Act (PCOCA) was needed to combat organised crime like illicit liquor smuggling, the Chief Minister asked the Sub-Committee, to examine the provisions of the proposed law, to finalise and submit its report at the earliest.
He agreed with Punjab Cooperation and Jails Minister Sukhjinder Randhawa and other ministers that PCOCA could help control hardcore criminals and act as a deterrent to gangsters, who continue to deal in organised crime even from prison, and had close connections with terrorists too. Asserting that he wanted “to see an end to this whole business of spurious and illicit/smuggled liquor”, the Chief Minister directed the concerned officials to be extremely strict in dealing with the criminals, whether men or women.
Reiterating his government’s zero-tolerance policy to illicit/ spurious liquor and drugs, he asked the police to coordinate closely with the Excise and other concerned departments to wipe this menace out of Punjab once and for all.
Pointing out that the victims were the poorest of the poor, Captain Amarinder set a 10-day deadline for the concerned DCs and police officers to identify and process cases to provide targeted additional relief for their families.
The Chief Minister has already announced Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia compensation to the families of each of the victims of the tragedy, in which the death toll currently stands at 112, with several more under treatment, which is being provided free in hospitals.