Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday minced no words to say that the unearthing of an illicit liquor factory at Rajpura, a day before, in the home district of Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, and “close links of the arrested persons with Congress leaders — Rajpura MLA Hardyal Kamboj, Ghanaur MLA Madan Lal Jalalpur and the Chief Minister's wife and Patiala MP Preneet Kaur — proves that the illicit liquor has the patronage of the Capt government”.
“The ruling Congress party’s Ministers and MLAs are hand in glove with the liquor mafia calling the shots in the state,” alleged AAP MLA from Barnala and party’s state youth wing president Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer.
He said that on Tuesday night, yet another liquor factory was unearthed at Rajpura, alleging that the accused Deepesh Kumar Grover and Karaj Singh, who were arrested by the police, were close associates of Congress MLAs Kamboj, Jalalpur and MP Preneet Kaur.
Hayer alleged that even during the lockdown, illegal liquor factories were busted from Rajpura in which Grover's name had cropped up. “The accused is out on bail and again running illicit liquor trade because the government did not take action against its loyal ones,” he added.
He said that the pictures of the arrested accused with Congress president Sunil Jakhar and Chief Minister's OSD Sandeep Sandhu clearly indicated that the liquor smugglers were being offered cover from the Chief Minister's Office.
“If Captain cannot dare to take action against his MLAs and OSDs, who are behind promoting liquor smuggling, he should step down as the Chief Minister owning responsibility for the menace,” he said while declaring that AAP would gherao Capt Amarinder and Preneet Kaur's palace if the Government failed to initiate stringent action against the Congress MLAs and leaders.
SAD DEMANDS JUDICIAL PROBE INTO LIQUOR MAFIA OPERATIONS
Demanding a judicial probe into the liquor mafia operations in the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s home district of Patiala, SAD on Wednesday said that the unearthing of an illegal distillery of the “gang” which had been busted six months back proved that the liquor mafia in Punjab continued to thrive due to support from the very top.
“It is shocking that an accused – Dipesh Kumar, who was the right hand man of Congress Rajpura legislator Hardyal Kamboj, has been nabbed yet again for the second time in six months for the same crime,” said former minister Maheshinder Singh Grewal adding that it was clear that Dipesh have no fear of law.
“It is a clear case of patronage from the top Congress leadership as well as the Gandhi family and only a probe by a sitting judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court can expose this nexus,” he said.
Grewal alleged that illegal distilleries as well as cross-border liquor smuggling was flourishing in Patiala because the Chief Minister had not given clear cut directions to State excise and police officials to go after Congress legislators of his home district who were patronizing the mafia elements.
“The Chief Minister has, in this process, not only caused a loss of hundreds of crores to the State exchequer but has also become a party to supplying slow poison in the name of liquor to the people of the area,” he said.