Bajwa puts onus on CM for CBI probe into drug trade
Thursday, 08/05/2014
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CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) on Wednesday put the onus on chief minister Parkash Singh Badal for a thorough and fair probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the nexus between politicians and the drug mafia.
“The investigation into the e nt i re dr ug r a cke t must be handed over to the CBI as the easy availability and manufacture of drugs within the state is not possible without political patronage and police nexus,” Bajwa wrote in an open letter to the chief minister.
“Very dreadful dimensions of this problem had come up during the election campaign. This is the ugly underbelly of Punjab,” Bajwa stated.
He added that all types of drugs were easily available and a majority of the drugs being consumed were manufactured locally.
“The critical dimension of this problem is the mushrooming of the so-called chemist shops that thrive on the sale of synthetic drugs manufactured here (in the state),” Bajwa said.
He stated that the state gover nment must take strict action against smugglers of all types of drugs and, at the same time, more and more drug deaddiction centres should be opened.
“None knows it better than a leader like you who has become the chief minister for the fifth time. We are not for politicising this issue as it concerns the destiny of Punjab,” he added.
‘VENDETTA POLITICS’
Bajwa also highlighted “unleashing of the politics of vendetta against Congress workers and activists within no time of the end of polling” at the hands of the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). This attitude of the SAD, he said, was highly condemnable “and so is the collusion of the law and order machinery with the culprits,” he added.
The Punjab Congress president also highlighted unemployment, stating that this menace was driving the youth of the state towards drugs.
