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Speaking in Ludhiana, Shah said he had visited Gurdaspur, Sangrur and Mansa earlier in the day and met the families of three men who had either been killed or died by suicide while fighting against drugs.
The three men were identified as Vikramjit Singh, 40, from Gurdaspur, Gulzar Singh from Sangrur and Parvinder Singh Jhota from Mansa.
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Shah said the conversations had left him deeply shaken. The accounts shared by the families, as well as others affected by the 'chitta' drug trade, revealed a reality he said was far worse than anything he had come across in government reports.
“I have never felt as deeply pained as I do now. When I met these families, along with others in the vicinity who have been devastated and tormented by the 'chitta' (drug) trade, the reality they described was far more harrowing and shocking than anything I had ever read in official reports in Delhi,” Shah said.
He also greeted the people of Punjab and the rest of the country on Vijayadashami, saying the experiences of the day had made it one he would never forget.
Shah also criticised the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab over the drug trade, alleging that the spread of drugs in the state was impossible without political patronage.
“Shame on the AAP government in Punjab. They accuse us, claiming that drugs arrive via ports in Gujarat. So far, from Gujarat and Maharashtra ports, drugs worth Rs 20,000 crore have been seized... How do these drugs, once broken down into smaller packets, end up in Punjab?” Shah said.
“How do these drug packets reach the youth of Punjab? Is this possible without political patronage? No, it is absolutely impossible,” he added.
Shah said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had referred a case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday morning. He assured the people of Punjab that whoever the accused might be, irrespective of their influence, they would be brought to justice.
“I want to promise the people of Punjab that in the case entrusted to us, whoever the accused may be, no matter how powerful, we will hunt them down, even from the depths of the earth, and bring them to justice. We will take the matter to court,” Shah said.