14-05-2025
Amritsar hooch tragedy: Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann announces ₹10 lakh relief for victims' kin
/Chandigarh Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday visited Marari Kalan village of Majitha sub-division to meet the kin of the hooch tragedy victims and announced a ₹10 lakh compensation each family.
The CM also said that the government will provide all possible help to the families, bear the education expenses of the victims' children, and provide jobs.
Interacting with media persons after meeting the families, the CM said such deaths are not merely accidents, but murders, which have been caused due to the greed of certain individuals. He added that the state government will ensure strict punishment to the culprits.
Mann added that the spurious liquor business could not have been run without political, bureaucratic and police support. The CM said that no one, whether a politician or a government servant, will be spared if they are found complicit in the hooch deaths.
Oppn hits out, questions govt's 'anti-drug' campaign
Several Opposition leaders, including Punjab LoP Partap Singh Bajwa, Amritsar MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla, SAD leader and former Majitha MLA Bikram Singh Majithia visited the grieving families of the victims before the CM reached the gurdwara to meeting the kin.
Bajwa said, 'This is not the first incident in the three-year regime of the AAP. In March last year, eight people died after consuming illicit liquor in Dirba assembly segment of Sangrur. Notably, the Dirba assembly segment is being represented by finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema and Sangrur is the home district of CM Mann.'
'CM Bhagwant Mann, you said the Majitha hooch tragedy couldn't happen without political, bureaucratic, or police support. I agree. But aren't you the head of all three? If there's complicity, accountability starts with you. Punjab doesn't need hollow statements. Charity begins at home,' the LoP wrote on X.
'This tragedy exposes the hollow claims of AAP's 'Yudh Nasheyan De Virudh' campaign,' he further stated, demanding the resignation of finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema.
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring also demanded fixing of responsibility over the deaths, stating, 'In 2020, when a similar hooch tragedy took place in Tarn Taran, he (Mann) had sought the resignation of the excise minister and registration of murder charges against him. Now, CM should do the same.'
MP Aujla said that real and branded liquor is sold at a higher price than the set rates, due to which the poor are forced to resort to cheap and chemically made liquor.
Majithia said that nexus between ruling party leaders and drug mafia has been exposed once again. Talking to media after visiting grieving families, the SAD leader said the tragedy was the direct result of the nexus between Aam Aadmi Party leaders and the drug mafia.
Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar alleged that the liquor mafia, previously active in Delhi, is now thriving in Punjab, exploiting the poor. Jakhar alleged that the same people who crafted Delhi's liquor policy influenced Punjab's policy, leading to the current situation.
