Chandigarh, February 14 Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring on Saturday said the AAP government's ongoing anti-drug campaign has "completely failed," as he alleged that the son of a police officer in Amritsar died from drug overdose.
Meanwhile, police said that so far, no link to drug use has been confirmed in the matter, which pertains to the death of a 26-year-old man, a resident of Guru Nanakpura in Amritsar.
The man was found unconscious near a gurdwara on Friday, his father said, adding that he was rushed to a hospital where he was declared dead.
In his earlier statement to the media on Friday, his father, who is a head constable, said that his son, who was a graduate and a football player, returned from a drug de-addiction centre on Thursday.
The grieving father alleged that drugs were being openly sold in the area and said that even the police could not stop it.
However, the father on Saturday retracted his earlier statement and said after seeing the body of his son, he became emotional and spoke against the state government, which he should not have done.
Warring claimed that the state and Centre had "completely failed" to curb the drug menace after the death in Amritsar.
In a statement, Warring said the claims of the AAP government's anti-drug campaign 'Yudh Nashian Virudh' have been exposed and challenged the state government.
He also referred to the anti-drug awareness 'padyatra' taken out by Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria and his claims about 'Yudh Nashian Virudh' being successful.
"Simply filing FIRs will not stop the drugs. We must accept that there has not been any success in the fight against drugs. The focus should be on treating addicts through a comprehensive de-addiction process," Warring said.
Pointing out that drugs were continuing to enter Punjab through drones from across the border, Warring said that both the Punjab government and the BJP-led Centre had failed to stop the inflow.
Targeting the AAP government, he termed it a "deaf and dumb" dispensation and accused it of spending large sums on 'yatras' and publicity while neglecting de-addiction programmes.
"If the money spent on yatras had been used for de-addiction and rehabilitation, the results would have been different," he said, adding that he had told the governor that the campaign had yielded "not a penny's worth" of benefit.
Referring to the victim's father, a policeman, Warring said it was tragic that a helpless father had to sit beside his son's body and say in desperation that people should leave Punjab to save children.
Senior Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa too attacked the state government over its anti-drug drive and asked if even a police officer's family was not safe from the drug menace, what hope the common Punjabis could have.
"The grieving policeman has shockingly said that parents wanting to save their children should leave Punjab. Is that the solution?" he asked.
Meanwhile, police said that the matter is being treated with full seriousness, and a fair and detailed investigation is underway. "If any evidence related to drugs emerges, appropriate legal action will be taken as per the law," they said.