CM sprinkling salt on wounds of Parminder S Jhota’s family by asserting their demands are not genuine : Harsimrat K Badal.

CM sprinkling salt on wounds of Parminder S Jhota’s family by asserting their demands are not genuine : Harsimrat K Badal.

(Asserts family has every right to seek action against police and drug officials complicit in the murder of Jhota)

(Urges Maawan Dheeyan Di Fauj members to form Jathas to stop the drug trade)

Zirakpur 27 October ( Ranjeet Singh Dhaliwal ) : Senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal today asserted chief minister Bhagwant Mann was sprinkling salt on the wounds of Punjabis by refusing to accept the demands of the family of slain anti-drug crusader Parminder Singh Jhota whose mortal remains continued to languish in a mortuary due to this stand-off. The Bathinda MP, who addressed two massive public meetings under the ‘Maawan- Dheeyan Insaaf Yatra’ at Dera Bassi and Ghanaur, said “it is shameful that the chief minister has refused to meet the family and is instead stating that the demands of the family are not genuine”. She said the aggrieved family, which had lost its son at the hands of the drug mafia, was only asking for action against the politician - police - administration nexus. “The family has every right to demand action against the police officers who granted an arms license to Parvinder Jhota’s killer - Ashwani Kumar besides action against the drug inspector who allowed psychotropic drugs to be sold at Ashwani’s chemist shop under his watch”.

Asserting that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government did not have any intention of proceeding against the drug mafia, Harsimrat Badal said “now we ourselves have to save our State from this menace”. She said this was the reason why the Maawan - Dheeyan Di Fauj had been created. She appealed to all the women who had joined the drive to form “jathas” of fifteen women each and fan out in the villages to stop the drug trade. She also appealed to the women to record details of all those selling drugs as well as those shielding them from action. “Once an SAD government is formed in 2027 a special task force headed by a women DGP will be constituted to crack down on all drug offenders and your testimonies will be used to punish them”. She also disclosed that the next SAD government would also change the law to deny bail to drug traffickers for ten years besides seizing all their property.

Badal also sympathised with mothers who had lost their sons to drugs. She said it was difficult to see the plight of women like Manjit Kaur of Sultanpur Lodhi who had lost five sons to drugs and Preeto who had lost four children to the menace. She also lauded the mother and wife of Parvinder Jhota for standing up to the might of the AAP government in its quest for securing justice for the anti- drug crusader. Speaking on the occasion, senior leader N K Sharma gave the example of two boys of his constituency dying due to drug overdose on the same day. He said parks had become a den for drug addicts and that the addicts were also indulging in snatching and crimes causing distress to people. He also talked about development done in Dera Bassi by the erstwhile SAD government including making an IT and Edu city in the constituency besides flyovers and pulls. Other leaders who spoke on the occasion included,Paramjit Kaur Landran and Babita Sharma.