Drugs cannot be sold without police, political patronage: Partap Bajwa
Babushahi Bureau
Chandigarh, September 30, 2026: Punjab Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa on Wednesday alleged that the drug trade could not operate in any area without the alleged involvement of the police administration and local political patronage.
Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh, Bajwa attacked both the BJP-led Central Government and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab, alleging that both had failed to tackle the drug menace and gangsterism in the state.
Bajwa questioned Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s ongoing campaign against drugs in Punjab and asked why narcotics were still being smuggled across the international border despite the extension of the Border Security Force’s (BSF) jurisdiction from 15 km to 50 km inside the border in 2021.
“If 50 km of the border area comes under the jurisdiction of Central agencies, why has the smuggling of heroin and weapons through drones from across the border not stopped?” Bajwa asked.
He claimed that drones used for cross-border smuggling were accompanied by mobile phones containing location details and alleged that both the BSF and Punjab Police were aware of such movements. He said responsibility for preventing such consignments therefore lay with both the Centre and the state government.
Bajwa also claimed that drugs were entering the country through major ports apart from the India-Pakistan border. Referring to the seizure of large quantities of heroin at Mundra Port, he alleged that the Centre had failed to act against major suppliers and organised drug networks.
Targeting the AAP government, Bajwa alleged that its anti-drug campaign was limited to publicity. He recalled Arvind Kejriwal’s earlier promise to eliminate drugs within four months of forming the government and claimed that drug abuse continued to affect families across Punjab.
Questioning the government’s figures on arrests of alleged drug smugglers, Bajwa also raised questions about the capacity of Punjab’s prisons and asked where the thousands of arrested persons were being lodged.
On gangsterism, Bajwa alleged that gangsters involved in crimes in Punjab were receiving shelter and facilities in jails in BJP-ruled states and were operating extortion networks from there.
In his concluding remarks, Bajwa alleged that the opening of a new drug-selling point in any locality should make the local Station House Officer (SHO) and police administration accountable.
He also challenged Amit Shah to release the Central Government’s “report card” on action against major drug traffickers instead of seeking votes during his Punjab visit.
Bajwa’s remarks came on the day Shah addressed the concluding rally of the BJP’s 13-day Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra in Jalandhar. Shah has said that making Punjab drug-free would be the BJP’s key electoral issue and pledged to eliminate the trade in “chitta” by December 31, 2029 if the party comes to power in the state.
The Centre had extended the BSF’s jurisdiction in Punjab, West Bengal and Assam from 15 km to 50 km in 2021, a move that Punjab had opposed on the grounds that it encroached on the state’s powers. The Union government has maintained that the move was aimed at enabling more effective action against trans-border crimes in coordination with state governments.