‘Follow the money trail to nab drug cartel beneficiaries’: BJP’s Jakhar to Punjab CM

Bharatiya Janata Party’s State president Sunil Jakhar. | Photo Credit: ANI

Even as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab has launched a campaign to eradicate the drug menace, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s State president Sunil Jakhar on Monday (June 16, 2025) said it is imperative to “follow the money” to track down the “end beneficiaries” in the drug money trail if the Punjab government wants to establish its credibility and resolve to uproot the drug mafia from the State.

In a letter to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Mr. Jakhar urged him to seek the intervention of the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Sheel Nagu, for setting up an appropriate “time-bound” probe by a credible agency, or even a multi-agency investigation, under the supervision of the Chief Justice, to uncover the end beneficiaries in the drug money trail.

“Arresting thousands of drug addicts and small players won’t make any difference in rooting out the drug menace. The flow of money has to be established to catch the big fish and arrest the end beneficiaries, be it politicians across party lines or officials. Without this, the government’s claim in its fight against drugs in Punjab remains a farce,” Mr. Jakhar said. He added that the drug cartels in Punjab cannot thrive without some or the other kind of patronage which has been there for some time now.

“The recovery of narcotics in Punjab goes into several thousands of crores of rupees, which underlies the rot that exists,” he said.

“The CM should, on priority, write to the Chief Justice for initiating a probe by any agency deemed appropriate. It would be prudent that the role of the judiciary and the executive remain separate and independent, which is why the CM should write to the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, under whose supervision this probe to establish the flow of money in the drug money trail can be initiated. Not just the drug money trail, the trail of illicit money from mining and sand mafia also needs to be probed and the guilty brought to the book,” the BJP State president said.

Meanwhile, the Punjab government’s ‘war against drugs’ — the campaign to eradicate the drug menace — has completed 107 days. According to Punjab Police, on Monday (June 16), they arrested 102 drug smugglers and recovered 688 grams of heroin, 105 kg of poppy husk, 2,164 intoxicant pills, among some cash, from their possession. With this, the total number of drug smugglers arrested has reached 17,749 in as many as 107 days.

Arpit Shukla, Special Director General of Police (Law and Order), said as the State government has enforced a three-pronged strategy — enforcement, deaddiction and prevention (EDP) — to eradicate drugs from the State, the police, as part of the ‘de-addiction’ effort, on Monday convinced 55 persons to undergo de-addiction and rehabilitation treatment.

Published - June 16, 2025 08:03 pm IST