Chandigarh, Oct 17 Senior Punjab BJP leader Sunil Jakhar on Saturday wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, seeking investigations by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into drug operations allegedly being run from prisons in Punjab and by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into the black money linked to this trade.
Referring to the murder of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota in Mansa, Jakhar said that when a drug inspector, who had served in the same district, was arrested two years ago, the DGP had claimed that he was the kingpin of a gang operating from prison and that substantial assets belonging to him had been uncovered.
In his letter, Jakhar stated that in 2024, Punjab Police had arrested a drug inspector who had served in Mansa and uncovered assets worth crores of rupees.
These included Rs 7.09 crore in 24 bank accounts, two bank lockers, Rs 1.49 crore in cash, 260 grams of gold, foreign currency and immovable property worth Rs 2.40 crore.
Punjab Police chief had himself stated that the drug inspector was acting as the kingpin of a gang linked to imprisoned drug traffickers and was facilitating the sale of drugs, said Jakhar, the former Punjab BJP chief.
Jakhar further wrote that the case had revealed a drug-trafficking network operating from prisons, links to cross-border drug trafficking, and movable and immovable assets worth crores of rupees, warranting a money laundering investigation.
Despite this, the Punjab government neither sought an NIA investigation nor referred the case to the ED, even though it involved potential money laundering, he said.
“Instead, after the drug inspector was granted bail, the Aam Aadmi Party government not only reinstated him but also appointed him to an important position at his department’s headquarters,” alleged Jakhar.
Given the network operating from prisons and the substantial money and property uncovered, the case should also have been referred to the NIA and ED for investigation, he said.
Jakhar said the Punjab government itself acknowledges that the misuse of pharmaceutical drugs is currently a major problem.
He further alleged that, despite his arrest in a drug-related case, the inspector had become a source of “illicit income” for the Aam Aadmi Party government.
He said the investigation should also establish at whose behest the inspector had been given the important posting.
He called for action against what he described as drug trade operating from prisons under government patronage, adding that the money laundering linked to it should be exposed.
Known for raising his voice against drug abuse and illegal sale of addictive substances at chemist shops, Jhota was shot in broad daylight inside a medical store at a busy marketplace in Mansa on Tuesday.
Ashwani Kumar, the store owner who allegedly opened fire on Jhota after he questioned him for selling addictive drugs to an elderly man, was taken into custody from Salasar in Rajasthan.
(PTI News)
