Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann wakes up from slumber, directs police to crack down on drug mafia

After being in office for 54 days, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann seems to have woken up from slumber and touched the burning issue of drug menace across the state on Monday.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, especially its national convener Arvind Kejriwal, had been accusing the erstwhile state governments of ties with the drug mafia, ruining lives of hundreds of youths across the state.

The AAP in its 10-point ‘Punjab Model’ of governance had claimed to make Punjab a drug free state if voted to power.

The Punjab Chief Minister on Monday ordered the state police to launch a major crackdown and take stringent action against any politician found conniving with the drug mafia.

Mann also asked the anti-drug special task force (ADSTF) led by Harpreet Sidhu to act fearlessly against the mafia.

Mann, while chairing a meeting of the ADSTF team in Chandigarh, directed Sidhu that neither politicians nor government officers should be spared if found conniving with the mafia.

He asked the officers to work without any political pressure with a focus on making Punjab a drug-free state. "To my mind, some police officers might have been working earlier under certain compulsions but all officers are not alike. However, few drug peddlers might have been enjoying political patronage in the past but now this shall not happen and all of you should work fearlessly in a direction to wipe out the slur of drugs from the state," he said.

Mann asked the police officers to arrest those who are actually selling drugs and not the addicts as these persons have already become victims of the drug mafia.

The CM said his government will strive hard to run drug de-addiction centers across the state efficiently while ensuring there is no shortage of medicines.

Appreciating the Punjab Police for valiantly combating the black phase of terrorism across the state, Mann said, "It will now set an example by completely destroying the drug terror, which has ruined the lives of our youth."