AAP govt installing anti-drone system at Punjab borders after Centre refused to do so, says Dhaliwal

“Finally, the AAP government passed its own budget of Rs 52 crore to get the anti-drone system installed to stop drug influx from Pakistan,” said the minister.
Dhaliwal said that he will be sending a legal notice for defamation to BJP’s state general secretary Anil Sarin if he “doesn’t withdraw his statement” against him on drugs.

At a press conference in Ludhiana Monday, BJP’s Sarin had said that drugs were not being eliminated from Punjab as “AAP leaders were hands in glove with suppliers”. Sarin said that not a single “big supplier” has been arrested under the AAP government’s anti-drug drive “Yuddh Nasheyan Virudh” (War against drugs).

Sarin said that on May 28, the Ajnala police had arrested two men for supplying drugs but “minister Kuldeep Dhaliwal reached the police station to help them”.

Sarin said that Dhaliwal ordered the police to “send the arrested men to a rehabilitation centre whereas the FIR was registered against them for supplying drugs”.
“Who gave Dhaliwal this right to send suppliers to rehab?” Sarin had questioned.

Denying the allegations, Dhaliwal said that either Sarin should withdraw his statement as soon as possible or he should be ready to answer the court.
He accused Sarin of making “misleading claims” to tarnish his public image, as “the facts are exactly the opposite of what was stated”.
Dhaliwal said that on May 28, the Ajnala police arrested six-seven people from Lakhowal village in his constituency for drug offence under the NDPS Act. The next day, villagers told him that two of them arrested were caught unfairly.

“The villagers claimed that they were drug addicts but do not sell them. One of those boys had returned from a rehabilitation centre just a day earlier. I went to the police station. I asked whether these two boys were drug users or sellers. The SHO said he would investigate and inform the next day,” said Dhaliwal.

Dhaliwal said that he had instructed the SHO that if they were just drug addicts, they should be sent to a rehabilitation centre for treatment. The following day, the SHO sent both young men to rehab.

“Meanwhile, the SHO informed that both men had also sold some drug in small quantity. I immediately told him that they their names should be included in the FIR, and they should be arrested too. They are now in jail. I only did what our government has decided — that those who are addicts will be given medical treatment too, and those who deserve punishment will also be punished,” said Dhaliwal, while showing a copy of the FIR.

He said that BJP and Akali Dal leaders do not understand the pain of drugs because their families have never been affected by it. “But my own family has gone through this pain. My 32-year-old nephew died of a drug overdose in 2013. Upon hearing the news, I returned to India from abroad and decided to stay here. Even today, my mother and sister-in-law often cry while mentioning his name,” said the minister. “BJP leader Sarin has levelled a grave allegation against me, and he should now be ready for legal action,” he said.

He said that when drugs were being sold in large quantities during the Akali-BJP government, then Punjab Police ADGP Shashikant had launched an anti-drug campaign, which he had supported by organising a large rally with him at his village.

He said that when the AAP government launched the “War Against Drugs” campaign, they stated clearly that action will be taken against those who sell drugs, while those who are drug addicts will be treated not as criminals but as patients requiring proper treatment. “Our goal is to eradicate drugs, which requires distinguishing between sellers and users, and taking action accordingly,” he added.

“All that BJP knows is to blame and accuse AAP. First, they should answer what they have done for Punjab, either it’s drugs or water. Several times our CM Bhagwant Mann told the Centre to get an anti-drone system installed at Punjab’s borders as drugs are supplied in border districts from Pakistan. We had asked them as 50 km jurisdiction inside Punjab near the international border is that of BSF. Every night our police and BSF are on vigil to stop drugs coming from Pakistan. But when the BJP government did not do anything, we passed our own budget of Rs 58 crore to get the anti-drone system in place,” said Dhaliwal.

On allegations that “no big fish” has been caught during the AAP government’s anti-drug drive, Dhaliwal said: “I don’t know what size of magarmachh (crocodile) is being talked about here. Crocodiles we have caught can be big or small in size but all I can assure is that we have arrested only those persons who were actually into drug trade. No poor or innocent has been caught.”