Punjab BJP Chief Sunil Jakhar Alleges AAP Govt Hijacked By Delhi Leaders, Demands CBI Probe In Amritsar Hooch Tragedy

Chandigarh: Alleging that chief minister Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab has been taken over by party’s Delhi-based leaders, the Punjab BJP on Monday demanded that the ambit of CBI probe into the Delhi excise policy must also investigate the recent Amritsar hooch tragedy in which 27 persons have lost lives.

Interacting with newspersons, state BJP president Sunil Jakhar who led a party delegation to the Punjab governor Gulab Chand Kataria to submit a memorandum in the context, said that the party demanded a CBI probe into the Amritsar hooch tragedy and AAP's liquor mafia links. The party also demanded that ED must be asked to undertake a thorough probe to expose this nexus.

Terming it as an avoidable tragedy, the delegation said that the quotas distributed under the liquor policy introduced by AAP in Punjab 2022 on lines of Delhi excise policy must also be probed to ascertain who got the illegal benefits and to what extent. A probe into the quantum of Foreign Liquor Quota permitted and lifted by Liquor Contractors of Punjab each year since July 2022 has also been sought, he said.

Jakhar further said the party has demanded a probe into AAP’s Delhi based leaders having been allowed official houses in Chandigarh under which official post and capacity and also about their presence in official government meetings.

The memorandum also raised the demand for a probe into the ``meteoric rise'' in the properties of MLAs, ministers and their relatives during the three year regime of AAP in Punjab.