Punjab drug menace: Congress shares video of man consuming poision outside DC office; sparks row | India News
NEW DELHI: Congress leader Sachin Pilot tore into CM Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government after a person “consumed poisonous substance” over harassement he allegedly faced for speaking against durg menance in the poll-bound state.Highlighting the incident, which would possibly compound the crisis for the Mann government, Pilot impressed upon the lack of accountablity for such incidents.“The kind of pressure and mistreatment being meted out to those raising their voices against drugs in Punjab—this incident in Sangrur is clearly demonstrating it,” Sachin Pilot wrote on X.Pilot, who is also Congress party’s poll incharge in Punjab, further wrote: “Resident of Namol village, Jagga Singh, consumed a poisonous substance outside the DC’s office. Ever since he started posting videos against drugs, he had been receiving threats and being harassed. Amidst grand claims about a drug-free Punjab, such incidents have raised serious questions on the accountability of the AAP government and the administration.““The ground reality is telling a completely different story—if even those raising their voices against drugs are not safe, then what kind of change are we talking about?” Pilot questioned.A political row exploded over the suicide of a 46-year-old Sangrur farmer, an addict’s father, who expressed his pain before finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema at a public rally and asked why Punjab government was unable to rein in the drugs menace.
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Later, Victim Gulzar Singh’s family members allege that some villagers and police intimidated him for questioning the minister, which drove him to suicide.The incident has put the Mann government under growing pressure over its handling of Punjab’s drug menace.Police registered an FIR against five persons, including the sarpanch, her husband and two panchayat members of Toor Banjara village in Cheema’s Dirba assembly constituency. They face charges of abetment to suicide and caste-based humiliation. The sarpanch’s husband denied the allegations.Opposition parties in Punjab, however, are gunning for Cheema and the AAP-led government. Congress functionary Sukhpal Singh Khaira shared a video purportedly showing Gulzar naming Cheema and others, and demanded an FIR against the minister and his associates. Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal visited Gulzar’s family on Tuesday, and demanded an abetment-to-suicide case against Cheema. BJP made the same demand, plus a CBI probe.
