Ludhiana, Oct 20 Following Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s announcement on Tuesday to hand over anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota’s murder case to the CBI, Union Home Minister Amit Shah told Mann to hand over the Sangrur and Batala investigations to the central agency as well.
Hours before Shah’s day-long Punjab visit, Mann announced that the government had decided to transfer Jhota’s murder case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Addressing the ‘Ravan Dahan’ ceremony in Ludhiana on Tuesday evening on Dussehra, Shah said he visited the families of three sons who lost their lives for raising their voices against drugs.
“I will never be able to forget this year’s Dussehra for the rest of my life. Today, I met with families in Punjab who have lost their sons… The tears in their eyes, the questions they are asking and the anguish of their entire families are deeply moving and would shake any person to the core,” Shah said.
The Union home minister was on a day-long visit in Punjab to meet the family members of those who died in incidents linked to the state’s drug issue. He said, “The Bharatiya Janata Party will also approach a court to seek a CBI probe into these cases. We are determined to ensure justice. Once the cases are handed over to the CBI, the Modi government will track down every person involved, no matter how powerful they are or wherever they may hide, and put them behind bars.”
After arriving in Batala earlier in the day, Shah met the family of a 40-year-old man, Bikramjit Singh, who died in an incident allegedly linked to the drug menace. From Gurdaspur, Shah headed for Sangrur to meet Gulzar Singh’s family.
Later, in Mansa, Shah met the family of anti-drug activist Jhota, who was killed last week by a medical store owner.
Gulzar, a resident of Turbanjara village in Sangrur district’s Durba, allegedly took his own life on September 7. His family claimed that he consumed poison after being harassed and subjected to casteist slurs for questioning Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema about the supply of drugs in his locality.
On the auspicious occasion of Vijayadashami, Shah said he made a solemn pledge here that by December 31, 2029, we will free Punjab from the drug trade. “Let us work together to build a drug-free Punjab,” he said. There can be no greater tribute to those three brave individuals who lost their lives, he said.
Shah also appealed to the people of Punjab to share any information about the drug trade through the Narcotics Control Bureau’s toll-free helpline. “If the Punjab government takes action, that is welcome. If it fails to act, we will ensure that action is taken,” he asserted.
Highlighting the BJP-led government’s track record at the Centre, he said the Modi government delivered on its promises.
“Article 370 has been abrogated, and terrorism is nearing its end. We have eliminated Naxalism. We will not rest until the drug menace, too, is eradicated. The symbol of evil before us today will soon be consigned to flames. Let us all resolve to burn the Ravana of drugs in Punjab as well and make the state drug-free by 2029,” he said.
On Dussehra, Shah said when he was young, “in Gujarat, we used to hear that if one has to see the Dussehra celebration and the burning of the Ravana effigy, one must go to Ludhiana”.
“We all know and believe that the burning of Ravana’s effigy symbolises the victory of good over evil. Vijayadashami is a day for every individual to eliminate the ego, greed, and all other vices that reside within them,” he said.
Thousands of years ago, on this very day, Lord Shri Ram achieved victory over Ravana in Lanka, he said. Shah said ever since, the entire world has recognised Lord Shri Ram’s victory as a testament to good’s triumph over evil.
(PTI News)
