Chandigarh: Former Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar has urged Union home minister Amit Shah to direct the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to probe a case involving a drug inspector who was identified as the alleged kingpin of a drug trafficking network involving jailed traffickers.Jakhar claimed the case had money laundering implications and sought an investigation into the alleged drug trade operating from Punjab’s prisons.In a letter to Shah, Jakhar expressed concern over the drug situation in Punjab. He referred to the incident in Mansa in which a young man was shot for opposing the sale of drugs.The BJP leader also noted that the Union home ministry had sought a response from the Punjab chief secretary regarding the incident.Jakhar wrote that in 2024, Punjab Police arrested a drug inspector who had served in Mansa and uncovered assets worth crores of rupees. These included Rs 7.09 crore in 24 bank accounts, two bank lockers, Rs 1.4 crore in cash, 260 grams of gold, foreign currency and immovable property worth Rs 2.4 crore.Jakhar said the Punjab director general of police had described the drug inspector as the alleged kingpin of a gang involving jailed traffickers and facilitating the sale of drugs.He stated that the case involved an alleged drug trafficking network operating from prisons, links to cross-border drug trafficking and the seizure of substantial movable and immovable assets.The former Punjab BJP chief argued that these aspects warranted a money laundering investigation. He alleged that the Punjab govt neither sought an NIA probe nor referred the case to the ED, despite the alleged money laundering implications.Jakhar claimed that after the drug inspector was granted bail, the Aam Aadmi Party govt retained him in service and appointed him to an important post at the headquarters of the department concerned.Seeking an investigation, Jakhar urged Shah to direct the NIA and the ED to identify those involved in the alleged network and probe suspected money laundering.He also sought an inquiry into who authorised the drug inspector’s appointment to an important post despite his arrest in a drug case.
