Investigation on drug mafias being handled in 'inefficient manner' in Punjab: Bajwa writes to Ravi Shankar Prasad

Rajya Sabha MP Partap Singh Bajwa on Thursday wrote a letter to Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad alleging that the investigations on the drug mafias in Punjab were being handled in an "inefficient manner" and urged the Centre to look into the matter immediately.

In a letter to Prasad, Punjab Union Minister of Law and Justice, Bajwa emphasised that Special Task Force (STF) led by Harpreet Singh Sidhu had submitted the report on a police-politician-drug mafia nexus but no effort had been made by the Centre or Punjab to take forward the probe.

The Congress leader said even "no action" was taken on a report submitted by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of three IPS officers namely Siddharth Chattopadhyaya, Prabodh Kumar and Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh.

"Efforts of the SIT, comprising Siddharth Chattopadhyaya, Prabodh Kumar and Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, and of the STF are lying in sealed covers with the Punjab and Haryana High Court, while those selling drugs have their identities protected and continue to trade. No action has been taken on any of these reports. The names of several senior officers cropped up in this investigation as also the names of several politicians, but they are lying in the sealed cover instead of being acted upon," he said.

The Rajaya Sabha MP said the Centre could have played an "invaluable role" in having the covers unsealed, which would allow the STF to carry out its mission in investigating all those who are involved in this menace, regardless of their position in society.

He urged the Centre to look into the matter immediately and have the covers unsealed at the earliest so that proper investigations can occur and the "official and politicians involved in drug trafficking can be publicly named.