New Delhi, Oct 17 (IANS) Punjab Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sunil Jakhar on Saturday wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into the drug trade allegedly operating from Punjab’s prisons and into the money laundering linked to the illegal smuggling, respectively. 

In his letter, Jakhar referred to the alleged murder of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota, saying: "I write to you with a heavy heart as the situation in Punjab continues to deteriorate because of drugs. You are already aware of the incident in Mansa in which a young man was shot for opposing the sale of drugs, and your Ministry has sought a response from the Chief Secretary of the Punjab Government regarding this incident."

Referring to the arrest of a drug inspector in Punjab's Mansa in 2024, he said: "The Punjab Police arrested a drug inspector who had served in Mansa and uncovered assets worth crores of rupees, including Rs 7.09 crore in 24 bank accounts, two bank lockers, Rs 1.49 crore in cash, 260 grams of gold, foreign currency and real estate worth Rs 2.40 crore."

He recalled that the Punjab’s Director General of Police had himself stated that this drug inspector "was acting as the kingpin of a gang involving jailed traffickers and facilitating the sale of drugs".

"This significant case involved a drug trafficking network operating from prisons, links to cross-border drug trafficking, and the discovery of movable and immovable assets worth crores of rupees, making it a case warranting a money laundering investigation," Jakhar said while blaming the AAP government in the state for neither seeking an NIA probe nor referring the case to the ED, "despite its money laundering implications".

"Instead, after the drug inspector was granted bail, the Aam Aadmi Party government not only reinstated him in service but also appointed him to an important position at his department’s headquarters. Given the network operating from prisons and the substantial sums of money and property uncovered, the case should also have been referred to the NIA and the ED for investigation," the former Punjab BJP chief stated.

Maintaining that the Punjab government itself acknowledges that the misuse of pharmaceutical drugs is currently a major problem, Sunil Jakhar said: "Through this letter, I therefore request you to have the case involving drug inspector Sesam Kumar investigated by the NIA and the ED so that the individuals behind this gang can be identified."

He urged that the investigation should establish at whose behest the concerned drug inspector, "who has become a source of illicit earnings for the AAP government", was given an important posting despite his arrest in a drug case.

"It should enable action against this trade operating from prisons under government patronage and uncover the associated money laundering," Jakhar asserted.

--IANS