Punjab elections 2017: Amarinder Singh promises to bring special law to crack down on drug mafia

Vowing to eradicate the drugs menace in Punjab within four weeks of coming to power, Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh promised on Wednesday a special law to crack down on the drug mafia and asserted that all those found guilty would be jailed and their property confiscated.

"All drugs cases would be dealt with on fast-track basis under the new law, which would be brought immediately after (government) formation if elected to power," he said. "Nobody would be spared," Amarinder said. In a statement issued in Delhi, the PCC chief said the proposed legislation - part of the 9-point action plan of Congress -- would provide for deterrent punishment and confiscation of property of all those found guilty of ruining the lives of Punjab's youth with drugs.

Accusing the Badal government of "allowing unchecked proliferation of drugs in the state to further their own vested interests", Amarinder said an entire generation of youth had been destroyed because of the "patronage" accorded to the drug mafia by the present dispensation in Punjab. He made it clear that all steps would be taken, on priority basis, to tackle the drugs cases and ensure strict, deterrent punishment for drug dealers, suppliers and distributors.

He welcomed the Election Commission's decision to appoint a special team of narcotics control officers to check flow of drugs in his state during the Assembly polls. "The EC move on drugs was a clear endorsement of the Congress stand that the drugs menace was rampant in Punjab under the Badal regime," he said.