SA MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal claims 5-6 lakh drug deaths in Punjab

Chandigarh. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Thursday claimed that drug-related deaths in Punjab had crossed five lakh under the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. She challenged Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to name even one drug kingpin he had arrested in the last five years.

Speaking at women’s gatherings in Babehali in Gurdaspur and in Sri Hargobindpur, she accused the CM of being directly responsible for the spread of the drug trade. She also asked him to name a single ‘chitta’ factory his government had busted. “The very fact that the big drug lords and their factories remain untouched is clear proof that you have no intention to tackle this menace and that you are facilitating this trade,” she said.

The death figure is her own estimate, not an official count. “Even if we take an average of five drug related deaths in a single village one year and calculate the total figure for 13,000 villages, we will get a figure of 3.25 lakh,” she said. She added that overdose deaths in towns and cities would take the toll to five to six lakh.

She accused the state government of hiding drug death figures and recording such deaths under other heads. She alleged that the government had “abducted” the body of Daljit Singh of Bhamme Kalan and forcibly cremated another overdose victim, Bikramjit Singh of Batala.

Hitting back at Mann’s jibe that she does not know the difference between ‘jhona’ (paddy) and ‘chhona’ (elections), she said: “I not only know about ‘jhona’ and ‘chhona’ but also the ‘choona’ (cheating) committed against Punjab’s treasury as well as meritorious candidates by facilitating the selection of outsiders in the PCS Mains examination.”

Harsimrat said mothers were coming to her and pleading with her to save their children from drugs. She asked members of SAD’s women’s wing, the Mai Bhago di Fauj, to act as ‘khabris’ (informers). “I appeal to the members of the Mai Bhago di Fauj to keep a record of those selling drugs as well as those who are providing shelter to them. We will take action against all the offenders,” she said.

She promised that a SAD government would set up a special task force led by a woman DGP to go after the drug mafia. She said a new law would deny bail to drug offenders for 10 years, seize their property and compensate their victims. She said addicts would get a rehabilitation programme with skill training.

Among those present were Gurbachan Singh Babbehali, Gurnam Kaur Babbehali, Rajanbir Singh Ghumaan and Istri Akali Dal Hargobindpur constituency president Sukhwinder Kaur.