I am after bigwigs in drug trade: Punjab CM Amarinder Singh
CHANDIGARH: Continuing the crackdown on drug peddlers in Punjab, chief minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said that his government would go after the bigwigs in drug trade. Meanwhile, Local Bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu called Akali Dal members “Banaras ke thugs” (impostors from Banaras) during an argument with Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia over the drug issue in the Assembly.
After the Assembly session, the CM said that the Special Task Force (STF) on drugs, headed by ADGP Harpreet Singh Sidhu, would become fully functional after Sidhu joined on Friday.
He added, "I will go after the big fish and no children will be harassed or picked up by the Special Task Force (STF)." The STF, said Amarinder, would go into all aspects of the problem, with pharmacies and chemist shops also under the scanner for selling illicit drugs.
Amarinder reiterated that his government would follow a humanitarian approach towards drug addicts, and children found on drugs would be handed over to drug de-addiction and rehabilitation centres to help them get over the addiction. He said that social counselors would be involved to motivate the parents of these children to admit them for treatment in these centres, since most of them were wary of doing so on account of the social stigma attached to drugs.