New Delhi : August 2, 2020. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday demanded a CBI probe into the Punjab hooch tragedy which has claimed 84 lives so far. Taking to Twitter, Kejriwal, whose Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is in the opposition in Punjab, claimed that none of the illicit liquor cases from the last few months have been solved so far.
“Saddened by the loss of lives in Punjab due to illicit liquor. State government needs to immediately take necessary steps to curb such mafias,” he posted on the micro-blogging site.
“The case should be handed over to CBI immediately as none of the illicit liquor cases from the last few months have been solved by local police,” he added.
On Saturday, the death toll in the Punjab hooch tragedy rose to 84 with the state government claiming that it had busted an illicit liquor racket spread across several districts from Tarn Taran to the Shambhu border (Patiala district) with Haryana.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh suspended seven Excise & Taxation officers and inspectors, along with two DSPs and four SHOs of the Punjab Police. The CM also announced Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia compensation each to the families of the deceased.
Punjab Police, meanwhile, arrested 17 more persons taking total arrests in the case to 25. It claimed to have conducted over 100 raids on during the day in the three affected areas — Amritsar (Rural), Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran, along with several other places in and around Rajpura and Shambhu border.
