CHANDIGARH – Residents who have lost their children to the drug menace want Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to name drug manufacturers and suppliers so that countless other lives are saved.
Seeking a CBI probe into the functioning of the drug mafia in Punjab, parents of the victims today criticised the Punjab Government for not acting against drug cartels and the Punjab Police for not going after the big fish involved in the trade.
The Progressive Lawyers’ Forum, the former DGP (Jails), Shashi Kant, and the Dr AK Banerjee-run Sadbhawana Society has decided to file a PIL in the Punjab and Haryana High Court to seek compensation for the affected parents.
“We hold Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal responsible for the death of our children,” said Pradesh Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira. He was accompanied by Dr Banerjee, Paramjit Singh Ranu, Gurdev Singh, Seema Rani and Kamla Devi. “The drug trade in Punjab has reached more than Rs 1 lakh crore annually. Pakistan smuggler Daud’s Punjab-based area commanders facilitate safe passage of drugs meant for the US,” Shashi Kant alleged.
“The Chief Minister should free the Punjab Police from the clutches of politicians and jathedars,” said Khaira. Dr Ranu said it was sad that persons holding constitutional positions were doing nothing to curb drug trade in the state. ” The two main political parties are busy giving a clean chit to each other on the issue,” he observed.
Dr Banerjee said he had met President Pranab Mukherjee after the death of his 24-year-old son Abhishek. “The purpose of my life now is to unmask those behind the drug trade.The police closed investigations into my son’s death, describing the case to be that of drug overdose, even before it received a postmortem report. I was threatened by a DCP not to pursue the case,” alleged Dr Banerjee.
He played a video clip to show that the police had “destroyed” evidence after his son was found dead in his car in Ludhiana last month.
