Chandigarh, September 17
Punjab BJP state president Kewal Singh Dhillon, while presenting families affected by drug-related deaths before the media, said that several times more innocent people have fallen victim to drugs in Punjab than those killed in 1984.
Dhillon said that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his government had no moral right to remain in power. He appealed to the people of Punjab to remove the government from power immediately and demanded that the Chief Minister resign from his post.
Dhillon said the pain expressed by these families was a story being experienced in households across Punjab. He said the BJP would share their pain and launch a people’s movement on the issue. He said the movement would begin with four “Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatras” (Drug-Free Punjab Marches) starting on September 18.
Dhillon said that if the BJP forms the government in Punjab, drugs would be eradicated from the state within two years. He said the BJP is in government in 22 states and claimed that it had established a track record by eliminating Naxalism, gang-related violence in Uttar Pradesh and violence in Kashmir.
“On the basis of this record, we promise the people of Punjab that we will eliminate drugs from Punjab,” he said.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Sunil Jakhar said it was important to share the grief of families affected by drugs. Pointing towards the empty chairs kept at the press conference to represent those who had lost their lives to drugs, he said that the pain of these families could not be expressed in words. He said the grief of mothers and daughters could only be reduced by sharing their pain, adding that their objective was to ensure that “no other mother loses her son.”
Taking a jibe at the Punjab government’s “Yudh Nasheyan Virudh” (War Against Drugs) campaign, Jakhar said the campaign was launched in March 2025. He said that three months after its launch, Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav had claimed that 8,344 FIRs had been registered and more than 13,000 people arrested.
Now, in September 2026, the DGP was claiming that 79,000 arrests had been made, Jakhar said. He questioned who would take responsibility for what had happened to these people if the DGP’s figures were correct.
Jakhar also referred to the DGP’s statement in May 2025 that the responsibility of the police officer concerned would be fixed in cases where drugs were recovered. He asked the DGP to disclose how many police officers had actually been held accountable.
He alleged that prisons had become safe havens for drug smugglers. Jakhar further alleged that the Punjab Chief Minister was embracing gangsters and inducting them into the party.
Case Studies
(In view of the circumstances arising after the incidents involving Gulzar and Mohanjeet, the identities of the families who attended the press conference were not made public.)
Police said: Buy the drugs, and we will catch them
A woman from Abohar spoke about an incident involving her brother. She said she knew that her brother was using drugs. She called the police emergency number 100 and also provided information about the sale of drugs. She said she was then directed to speak to the helpline.
According to the woman, the police told her: “You buy the drugs and we will reach the spot and catch them.”
She said that, being a woman, she could not understand how she was expected to go and purchase drugs herself.
She questioned why no action had been taken when the family had already provided the police with information about where drugs were being sold.
The woman’s mother, referring to the death of her son, said, “He was my only son. He was beaten and thrown away. The police officers said they could not pick up the body for four hours because they did not have a vehicle.”
A woman said that both her sons had lost their lives after becoming addicted to drugs. She said she was now earning a living by doing household cleaning work.
Her story, she said, reflected the pain of thousands of families affected by drugs.
A man who came from Morinda said that his son was battling for his life in hospital. The family, he said, had not even been able to determine when their son had become trapped in drug addiction. He sought the government’s help to save young people caught in the grip of drugs.
A young man from Gharuan in Kharar also said that he himself used drugs and appealed to the government to help him.
Meanwhile, a young man from Nawanshahr said that they provided the police with information about drug smugglers, but the police allegedly told them: “Buy the drugs in front of us, and then we will catch them.”