Never Felt So Saddened: Amit Shah on Punjab Drug Victims' Families; AAP Minister Hits Back
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday that he had "never felt so deeply saddened" as he did while meeting the families of people who died in incidents linked to Punjab's drug menace, and accused the state's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of failing to curb it.
Shah was on a day-long visit to Punjab, his second in 20 days in a state where assembly elections are due. He travelled to Gurdaspur, Sangrur and Mansa districts before speaking to reporters in Ludhiana.
In Batala, in Gurdaspur district, he met the family of Bikramjit Singh, a 40-year-old man who died in an incident allegedly linked to drugs. In Sangrur he visited the family of Gulzar Singh, and in Mansa the family of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota, who was killed last week. Shah said relatives of others affected by the trade in 'chitta', or illicit drugs, had also gathered at these homes.
"Some lost their sons, some brothers and others their husbands. What answer does the AAP government have for these grieving families?" he asked, adding that the accounts he heard had "shaken" him.
The Home Minister said he had come to offer solace and had no political agenda, but he used the visit to press the state government on its record. He said the AAP had promised after taking office in 2022 to eradicate the drug trade within months, and that the problem had instead spread from village to village. He also referred to the recent arrest of a police constable, deployed with the state's anti-drone system in Tarn Taran, who was found with 15 kg of heroin.
Shah welcomed the Punjab government's decision to hand the Mansa murder case to the Central Bureau of Investigation and urged Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to refer two other cases, from Sangrur and Gurdaspur, to the federal agency as well, saying the victims' families were demanding it. He assured the families that he would use every resource at his disposal to ensure justice, and said BJP workers would approach the High Court if necessary.
He repeated his assurance that the drug trade would be eradicated by December 31, 2029, and said drugs worth Rs 20,000 crore had been seized so far at ports in Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema responded by asking Shah to explain what the Centre had done to dismantle drug supply chains operating beyond the state's borders. The exchange reflects a long-running dispute between the BJP-led Union government and the AAP government in Punjab over who bears responsibility for the drug trade, which both sides describe as a crisis affecting thousands of households.
Drug offences in the state are largely registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, with the state police leading investigations and central agencies such as the Narcotics Control Bureau and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence operating alongside them. The case handovers sought by Shah would shift investigation of the two incidents to a central agency.
Shah later attended the 'Ravan Dahan' ceremony in Ludhiana for Dussehra celebrations.
