Amit Shah meets anti-drug activist families in Punjab and targets AAP over illegal substances

UPDATE - follow-up to Amit Shah arrives in Punjab; to meet Parvinder Singh Jhota's kin: Union Home Minister Amit Shah met the families of anti-drug activists in Punjab, including Bhim Singh, the father of Parminder Singh Jhota who was murdered in Mansa on October 13, 2026. Hours prior to the visit, Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann announced a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into Jhota's murder. State authorities previously attributed the killing to personal enmity, though the family had pushed for a CBI inquiry. Mr. Shah acknowledged the transfer during a press conference in Ludhiana and urged the Chief Minister to hand over two other cases to the agency as well.

Reactions

Addressing reporters, Mr. Shah stated that three individuals—Bikramjit Singh in Gurdaspur, Gurdas Singh in Sangrur, and Parminder Singh Jhota in Mansa—had lost their lives or died by suicide while fighting drugs. He accused the Aam Aadmi Party government of failing to fulfill its promise to end the drug trade within three months, noting that five years had passed while the problem worsened. Responding to criticism about narcotics arriving from ports in Gujarat and Maharashtra, Mr. Shah defended central authorities by stating they had intercepted up to twenty thousand crore rupees worth of drugs, while arguing that local trade reaching every village required political patronage. In reply, Mr. Mann accused the Home Minister of playing politics, asking why the Bharatiya Janata Party and its former partner Akali Dal took no action when the drug crisis initially grew between 2007 and 2017.

Context

The drug trade and the supply of synthetic substances like heroin, locally known as chitta, have remained major political and social issues in Punjab across multiple election cycles. State governments face ongoing pressure from families and civil society groups to curb trafficking networks and protect activists who speak out against local drug syndicates.