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Amit Shah visits families of anti-drug victims in Punjab, promises CBI inquiry into Batala murder
Union home minister meets families of victims in Batala and Sangrur; contradicts police stance on drug-related killings.
Prefer HTon Google
Amritsar/Sangrur: Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday visited the families of victims of drug-related violence in Punjab, sharpening his attack against the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government over the state’s law and order situation.
Hours before Shah’s visit, chief minister Bhagwant Mann announced that the state government had decided to hand over the investigation into the October 13 murder of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota in Mansa to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
During his state tour, Shah visited the house of 40-year-old Bikramjit Singh at Marhi Pannwan village near Sri Hargobindpur in the Batala sub-division of Gurdaspur district. Bikramjit was hacked to death last Thursday evening when he and two companions, Nishan Singh and Gurmukh Singh, were attacked by 10 to 15 armed men. The assault occurred after local residents confronted the group over open drug peddling, theft, and harassment in their street. While Bikramjit died of his injuries, Nishan and Gurmukh survived.
Shah met Bikramjit’s mother and sister to express his condolences. The family reiterated that Bikramjit—their sole breadwinner—was targeted for standing up to local drug peddlers. Their account contradicts the Punjab Police, who ruled out a drug connection and termed the incident a petty scuffle over a mobile phone.
Responding to the family’s demand for an uncompromised investigation, Shah assured them that a CBI probe would be conducted.
In a post on X, Shah targeted the ruling state government: “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... 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.”
Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon and senior party leaders accompanied the home minister.
Shah travelled to Toor Banjara village in Sangrur to meet the family of a Dalit daily-wage worker who died on September 7 after allegedly consuming pesticide. His family alleged he took the extreme step following harassment and casteist slurs after he publicly questioned Punjab finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema about illegal drug sales during a public event a day earlier.
At the daily-wager worker’s house, Shah also met Mohanjit Singh Sheron—who alleged he was subjected to custodial torture after displaying a black flag during chief minister Bhagwant Mann’s Lok Milni programme—and the mother of another local youth who recently died after consuming a poisonous substance.
