Chandigarh, Feb 24 (IANS) Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Cheema said on Tuesday that the state government’s sustained crackdown against narcotics is delivering concrete results, dismantling drug networks that once operated with impunity, adding that drug traffickers are also fleeing the state and establishing Haryana as the new base.

He noted that as Punjab “strengthens enforcement and public participation against drugs, serious questions are arising about the growing menace in Haryana under the current Nayab Singh Saini government”.

Recalling that drugs proliferated across Punjab during the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government from 2007-2017, Minister Cheema said a similar pattern is now visible in Haryana.

Referring to Haryana Police officer Sunil Sandhu, who is facing action after anti-drug operations, Punjab Minister Cheema asked what the BJP government in Haryana is trying to protect him.

He also asked whether the repeated visits of Haryana Chief Minister Saini to Punjab indicate an attempt to allow drug networks to regroup and seek a return, even as Haryana sinks deeper into the crisis.

Minister Cheema told the media here that as the Punjab government intensified its crackdown against narcotics, drug traffickers are fleeing the state and establishing Haryana as their new base.

“The decisive action under the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has tightened the grip on drug networks in Punjab, exposing how criminal elements are now relocating operations,” he said.

Minister Cheema said, “As the noose tightens against drugs in Punjab, traffickers have made Haryana their new base. Our efforts are producing results, and that is why they are being forced to run.”

Recalling the past, he said, “Punjab has suffered the consequences of drug proliferation from 2007-2017. It was during the BJP-Akali government that drugs like heroin and ‘chitta’ spread across Punjab. The people of Punjab rejected them because they witnessed the devastation first-hand.”

Minister Cheema said after the AAP government assumed office in 2022, a decisive campaign ‘Yudh Nashean Virudh’ was launched.

“A special sub-committee was formed, and extensive coordination meetings were held across districts. Recently, more than 1.5 lakh members of Village Defence Committees took an oath to support the anti-drug movement, reflecting mass public participation,” he added.

–IANS

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