Chandigarh, May 16, 2025:Expressing grief over the death of 27 people in Amritsar’s Majitha constituency due to consumption of spurious liquor, Amritsar MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla while speaking to media at Chandigarh said, “Punjab government's ‘war on drugs’ has no connect whatsoever with the situation’s ground reality, otherwise, this tragedy would not have happened.”
He pointed out that in 2020, 120 deaths were reported due to spurious liquor in Amritsar, Batala and Tarn Taran. After that, in March 2024, 20 people died due to spurious liquor in Sangrur. "No one knows what was done to the culprits and that is why people have no fear of the law, now it has happened again in my constituency," rued Aujla.
Aujla said that the recent hooch deaths expose the claims of the current government's 'Nasha Mukt Punjab' campaign. “The CM should take full responsibility for the tragic deaths that have taken place in the Amritsar 'Hooch Tragedy', he should get resignations of all government functionaries who are at the helm and were responsible for this hooch tragedy,” said Aujla.
“I have been raising the alarm by writing to the DGP and government officials, highlighting the worsening drug crisis—particularly in Amritsar and the border areas. I have consistently exposed the deep-rooted drug nexus and repeatedly brought the issue to the attention of the government to the drugs and now, spurious liquor issue but all my missives were ignored,” said Aujla.
He also raised the issue of gambling (‘Dhada Satta’) a major concern in Amritsar and said that such problems - including drugs, have tarnished the image of the holy city of Amritsar.
“There is a dangerous collusion between drug cartels, certain senior police personnel, and officials of the Punjab government including those from the Excise Department. This nexus is destroying the future of Punjab,” added Aujla.
“In view of the above, I strongly urge the formation of a high-level committee under the supervision of a sitting High Court judge. This committee must investigate the number of drug- and liquor-related deaths over the years and dismantle this dangerous network,” said Aujla.
Aujla added that the present situation in Amritsar is very serious and that the central government also should send a high level delegation under a Supreme Court Judge to Punjab to investigate the manufacture and supply of drugs and poisonous liquor in Amritsar and other parts of the state and to pinpoint who are the people behind these nefarious activities.
According to Aujla, this becomes important as what is shocking is that the area where spurious liquor was sold and deaths took place, was just 200 meters away from the police station. This points to a tacit support from the police for such illegal trade, this needs to be investigated.
Aujla said, “In as far as the sale of liquor is concerned, there seems to be an unholy nexus between big-wigs in the Excise Department and the higher echelons of the Punjab government.”
Aujla explained, “The Punjab government is only focusing on revenue collection. Good quality liquor is not being sold at the actual price but at a higher rate; due to which the poor class is being forced to buy cheap and spurious liquor. The government is pushing the poor to death by selling expensive liquor at liquor shops.” To establish high prices of country liquor Aujla also showed the media the difference between minimum sale price and actual sale rate of different country liquor brands.
“We all know that ‘illegal liquor manufacturers’ are ordering a large quantity of ethanol and the state government hasn’t done anything in this regard,” added Aujla.
“The high level enquiry by a sitting judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to investigate the ‘Hooch Tragedy’ should also fix responsibility for the deaths. The business of spurious liquor has been going on for years and it is surprising that there are police, STF, ATF and other intelligence agencies which keep a close eye on every minute information, but they could not find out that such a large quantity of ethanol is coming to Punjab and how it is being used, this should also be investigated.”
“The investigations should bring to light who are the actual ‘big fish’ behind over pricing of liquor in Punjab,” Aujla further said.
The role of police is also under scanner as all these incidents have taken place despite heavy presence of police in the state. In Punjab many people are dying every day but there is no count of them anywhere.
He said that he will not back down from saving Amritsar and Punjab and will keep talking about this issue. At this time, police officers, leaders and every section loyal to Punjab will have to fix their accountability. Because drugs and spurious liquor are slowly destroying the roots of Punjab.
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