NEW DELHI: Home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday met the families of three men who allegedly lost their lives after raising their voices against drug peddlers in Punjab, launching a sharp attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government over the drug menace in the state.During his visit, Shah met the family of late Bikramjit Singh in Gurdaspur, Gulzar Singh’s family in Sangrur and the family of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota in Mansa, who was shot dead last week.Shah expressed his condolences to Bikramjit Singh’s family.“Today, at the residence of the family of late Bikramjit Singh ji, who lost his life for raising his voice against the unchecked drug trade in Punjab under the AAP government, I met them in Gurdaspur and expressed my condolences. May God grant them the strength to bear this sorrow,” Shah said, ANI reported.Targeting the Bhagwant Mann-led government over the drug menace, Shah said, “The growing web of drugs in Punjab and the emboldened drug traffickers have raised serious questions about the functioning of the AAP government. In the Bhagwant Mann government, on one hand, Punjab’s youth is falling prey to drugs, while on the other hand, those who raise their voices against it are not safe.”“We are committed to making Punjab, along with the whole of India, drug-free and securing the future of our youth,” he added, as per ANIShah also met the family of Gulzar Singh, who committed suicide after facing alleged intimidation for publicly questioning a Punjab minister about the open sale of synthetic drugs (“chitta”).The visit to Mansa came amid a political row over the murder of Jhota. Hours before Shah’s visit, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann announced that the state government had decided to transfer the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), PTI reported.Jhota, known for raising his voice against the illegal sale of addictive substances at chemist shops, was shot dead inside a medical store in a busy marketplace in Mansa on October 13. According to PTI, store owner Ashwani Kumar allegedly opened fire on Jhota after he questioned him over the sale of addictive drugs to an elderly man.
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The incident took place while Jhota was hosting a Facebook Live. Kumar was taken into custody from Rajasthan’s Salasar, PTI reported.The killing has triggered a political slugfest in Punjab, which is scheduled to hold assembly elections early next year. Shah’s visits to Gurdaspur, Sangrur and Mansa brought the drug menace and the safety of those campaigning against it into sharp political focus.
