Hooch tragedy: MP Aujla seeks inquiry by sitting HC judge
Congress MP from Amritsar, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, on Friday, sought an inquiry by a sitting high court judge into the hooch tragedy in Majitha as well as other deaths due to drugs and spurious liquor in the state.
Addressing a press conference here, Aujla said that chief minister Bhagwant Mann should take responsibility for the hooch tragedy, and direct the government officials, who were in charge and accountable, to tender their resignations. He also urged the central government to send a high-powered delegation to look into the drug and spurious liquor trade in Punjab.
The Congress MP claimed that the state government's 'war on drugs' was completely disconnected from the ground reality, otherwise, this tragedy would not have happened. 'Five years ago, 120 deaths were reported due to spurious liquor in Amritsar, Batala, and Tarn Taran. Then, in March 2024, another 20 people lost their lives in Sangrur. No one knows what action was taken against the culprits, which is why there is no fear of the law. Now, it has happened again in my constituency,' lamented Aujla.
Aujla said the recent hooch deaths exposed the claims of the current government's 'Nasha Mukt Punjab' campaign. 'I have been raising the alarm by writing to the DGP and government officials, highlighting the worsening drug crisis, particularly in Amritsar and the border areas, but all my missives were ignored,' he alleged, strongly urging the formation of a high-level committee under the supervision of a sitting high court judge to investigate the number of drug and liquor-related deaths over the years and to dismantle this dangerous network.
Aujla urged the state government to reduce the price of country liquor so that poor people do not buy cheap and spurious liquor. 'The Punjab government is only focusing on revenue collection. Good quality liquor is not being sold at the actual price but at a higher rate; due to which the poor class is being forced to buy cheap and spurious liquor,' he claimed. On Monday, Aujla, in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had urged him to declare cross-border smuggling of drugs arms as 'acts of terrorism.'
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