Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Friday outrightly rejected his predecessor Capt Amarinder Singh’s demand for a judicial probe into the recent drug haul case.
“Congress leaders, including the former Chief Minister, should desist from making such demands, which hampers the ongoing investigations by the State police,” said Badal while interacting with the media persons on the sidelines of his Sangat Darshan programme in the Gidderbaha Assembly segment in Muktsar.
Chief Minister said Punjab police had unearthed this racket and were carrying out
investigations meticulously from all angles with due diligence and deliberation.
He said the State Government reposes complete faith in the functioning of State police. “Congress leaders should refrain from interfering with its day-to-day working, thereby allowing the investigators to work independently so as to reach the bottom of the case,” he said.
Badal said he would not make any further comment on the matter as it would affect its proceedings and assured that the law of the land would take its own course and all persons involved in the drug racket would be dealt with severely.
Capt Amarinder Singh had on Thursday demanded the probe into the drug racket case be conducted by either a sitting judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court or a central agency.
Punjab police had recently busted a massive drug racket with the arrests of mastermind and Arjuna awardee wrestler Jagdish Bhola and his four associates, major supplier Jagjit Singh Chahal and Manjinder Singh Aulak and also seized over 600 kilo of precursor chemicals worth `600 crore.
Meanwhile, earlier in his address, the Chief Minister, while expressing deep concern over the extensive damage caused to crops and houses in floods, said the State Government was committed to lend a helping hand to the sufferers of this grave natural tragedy.
Asking the officers to ensure that survey regarding damaged houses in the area was completed within a fortnight so that adequate compensation could be given to aggrieved families, Badal cautioned the officers that any laxity in this work on their part would not be tolerated.
Exhorting farmers to adopt allied agriculture activities, Badal said it would not only help in supplementing their income but also be instrumental in bailing them out from the current agrarian crisis.
He underscored the need for making use of agriculture implement and machinery on custom hire basis from the village-based agriculture cooperative societies instead of incurring heavy expenditure on its purchase, which would further squeeze their margins of profitability.
Striking an emotional chord with the people, Badal said the land of Gidderbaha was sacred to him as he had started his political career from this place. “I am personally indebted to every person from each village of this assembly segment as they have supported me enormously throughout my political career. Thus, it is incumbent on my part to leave no stone unturned for ensuring the overall development of this place,” he added.