Congress MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla on Friday said Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann should take full responsibility for the spurious liquor tragedy that led to 27 deaths in Amritsar district and hold top officials accountable.
The Amritsar tragedy was not an isolated incident. There have been similar incidents during the past few years but the government has not learnt any lesson, he claimed.
Twenty-seven people, mostly daily-wage labourers, died after consuming spurious liquor in Amritsar district.
Aujla, the MP from Amritsar, expressed grief over the deaths and said, "The Punjab government's ongoing Yudh Nashian Virudh (campaign against drugs) has no connect whatsoever with the ground reality. Otherwise, this tragedy would not have happened." He pointed out that 120 deaths were reported due to spurious liquor consumption in Amritsar, Batala and Tarn Taran in 2020. In March 2024, 20 people died due to consumption of spurious liquor in Sangrur.
"No one knows what was done to the culprits and that is why people have no fear of the law. Now it has happened again in my (Amritsar parliamentary) constituency," Aujla said.
He added the recent deaths exposed the Mann's government's claims about the Yudh Nashian Virudh campaign.
"The chief minister should take full responsibility for the tragic deaths. He should hold top officials responsible and get resignations of all those government functionaries who are at the helm… Suspending DSP- and SHO-rank officials is not enough," Aujla said.
He also claimed the state government was focusing solely on revenue collection.
Highlighting that most victims of the recent and past hooch tragedies came from the poor strata of society who put their lives at risk to buy liquor from unauthorised sources, Aujla suggested the government should keep this in mind and provide country liquor at cheap rates in villages.
"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 said and claimed there was a difference between the minimum sale price and the actual sale price of different country liquor brands.
Aujla said he had been raising alarm by writing to the director general of police and government officials, highlighting the worsening drug crisis, particularly in Amritsar and the border areas.
"I have consistently exposed the deep-rooted drug nexus and repeatedly brought the issue to the attention of the government and now the spurious liquor issue but all my missives were ignored," he claimed.
He also alleged there was a dangerous collusion between drug cartels, certain senior police personnel, and some state government officials.
"I strongly demand that the state government form a high-level committee under the supervision of a sitting high court judge to investigate the number of drug- and liquor-related deaths and go into related issues," he said.
Aujla said the situation in Amritsar was very serious and demanded that the central government send a high-level delegation under a Supreme Court judge to investigate the manufacture and supply of drugs and poisonous liquor in Amritsar and other parts of the state and pinpoint the people behind these activities.
The AAP government has drawn flak for the Amritsar tragedy, with the opposition demanding Mann's resignation.
The state government has said most of the culprits were arrested and vowed to ensure the strictest punishment for them.
A police probe has revealed that methanol-- a chemical used in industrial products -- was procured in bulk online to prepare the toxic brew.
Methanol is a light, colourless organic chemical compound that is poisonous when ingested and is illegally added to alcoholic beverages as a cheaper alternative to ethanol, which is the normal consumable alcohol.
Mann said his government would not spare anyone, however affluent they might be, involved in the sale of spurious liquor.
Aujla said, "We all know that illegal liquor manufacturers are ordering a large quantity of methanol and the state government hasn't done anything in this regard." He said every village in Punjab was affected and there had been a number of deaths due to drugs in recent years.
"When a big incident happens, action is taken against just a few and some are suspended but, after a few days, everything is forgotten," Aujla said and added it was time the government took the issue seriously.
