Sukhbir demands FIRS against Cong MLAS Jalalpur, Kamboj
GHANAUR : Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Thursday demanded criminal cases against Congress MLAS Madan Lal Jalalpur and Hardyal Singh Kamboj for running the liquor and sand mafia, saying chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh has given his legislators a free run to run the illicit liquor rackets.
Holding a protest along with his party activists near the site of the illegal distillery unearthed in the Ghanaur assembly segment, Sukhbir said Jalalpur was the head of the illicit liquor gang and that the CM was sheltering him as well as Kamboj by refusing to order a CBI probe into the matter.
He said the power of the liquor mafia was such that the Congress government had refused to hand over the case files regarding the Ghanaur illegal distillery to the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
“Even the senior superintendent of police (SSP) and the excise officials pursuing the case were shifted out. Once the Akali Dal returns to power in Punjab, we will order a comprehensive inquiry into the issue and also recover the ill-gotten wealth accumulated by the likes of Jalalpur and deposit it in the state exchequer,” he said.
“It seems the Congress government is deliberately not proceeding against the liquor mafia despite the recent hooch tragedy which claimed more than 120 lives,” he alleged.
The SAD, he said, will explore all options to ensure that a murder case is registered against those responsible for the hooch tragedy. Besides, he demanded action against distilleries for pilferage of extra neutral alcohol.
‘GOVT NOT PROVIDING MEDICAL AID TO HOOCH TRAGEDY SURVIVORS’
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Thursday alleged that the Congress government was not providing medical care to those permanently disabled by the recent hooch tragedy in Tarn
Taran, Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts.
Holding a press conference along with five families whose members were permanently blinded after consuming spurious liquor, former minister Bikram Singh Majithia said it was shocking that the chief minister did not meet the victims’ kin during his seven-minute joyride to Tarn Taran.
Some of the victims’ families said they had to spend hefty bills in private hospitals for the treatment.
No Congress MLA or district official visited the victims in hospital, they said.
CONG PROTESTS AGAINST SUKHBIR
Holding a parallel protest against the Akali Dal, Congress MLA Madan Lal Jalalpur led Congress workers showing black flags to SAD president Sukhbir Badal and held him responsible for the problem of drug abuse in Punjab. Sukhbir, who staged a dharna near Ghaggarsarai, faced slogans from Congressmen, whom police stopped from visiting the venue.
Jalalpur demanded a case against Sukhbir for inciting and misleading people of Punjab. He said 4,000 litre raw liquor was seized from a factory on an Akali leader’s land at Pabri village.