The rift in the Punjab unit of the Congress was out in the open once again as the party's Rajya Sabha MPs Pratap Singh Bajwa and Shamsher Singh Dullo accused Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who holds the portfolio of excise and taxation, of failing to reign in on the illegal distillery rackets in the state. The duo met Punjab Governor V.P. Singh Badnore, seeking CBI and Enforcement Directorate probe into the hooch tragedy which claimed the lives of 105 people.
The MPs claimed that the excise department and the police turned a blind eye to the liquor mafia despite several warnings and requests made to the chief minister. “They couldn't avoid it and now cannot investigate it. It is beyond them; Central agencies need to take over. The chief minister was repeatedly warned about the liquor mafia, but the indifference to these warnings claimed so many lives. The families of the victims deserve justice for repeated administrative failures. If this is how he will run the state then God have mercy on us,” said Bajwa.
Meanwhile, the death toll in the spurious liquor tragedy has risen to 105, with maximum number of deaths (80) reported from Tarn Taran. The grieving families are also upset over the delay in conducting autopsies, leading prolonged wait for the dead bodies. The doctors in affected districts have been asked to work overtime to complete autopsies.
The state police have been conducting a massive crackdown on spurious liquor trade and have so far arrested 88 people. The police have been conducting raids in various villages and seizing large quantities of spurious liquor, hidden in village fields, ponds and even public toilets.
