Punjab Congress leaders seek accountability after hooch tragedy claims 16 lives
Expressing condolences to the bereaved families of the tragic hooch incident in Majitha on Tuesday, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring urged the government to provide adequate compensation to the dependents of the victims.
Warring described the deaths as “cold-blooded murders of unsuspecting people” and called for immediate action.
“If 16 people have died after consuming spurious liquor, it suggests huge quantity of it was being manufactured, and those doing it went unnoticed, which sounds intriguing.
It is not possible without the knowledge and patronage of the authorities,” he said.
He questioned how mass production of illicit liquor could continue undetected when even unauthorised liquor shops are routinely shut down by excise officials.
Warring also reminded CM Bhagwant Mann of his demands in 2020 following a similar tragedy in Tarn Taran, where he (Mann) had sought resignation of the excise minister and the registration of murder charges against him.
He said, “Exemplary punishment must be given not only to those who manufactured the illicit liquor, but also to those who patronised it.”
He also took a dig at the AAP’s repeated claims to eradicate drugs from Punjab by May 31.
“We never believed you could, but we did not expect spurious liquor production under the nose of your government”, Warring said.
Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa echoed similar sentiments. He criticised the AAP government’s ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh’ (War Against Drugs) campaign following the hooch tragedy, which claimed 17 lives.
“This is not the first such incident under the AAP regime. In March 2024, eight people died from illicit liquor in Dirba, Sangrur district—finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema’s own constituency and CM Mann’s home district,” Bajwa said.
He held CM Mann directly responsible for the Majitha tragedy, saying, “The Chief Minister himself has acknowledged that such tragedies cannot occur without political, bureaucratic, or police support. If the liquor mafia is flourishing under his nose, he is either complicit or incompetent.”
Bajwa also criticised the lack of transparency regarding anti-drug deadlines.
“DGP Gaurav Yadav set a May 31 deadline to end the drug menace. CM Mann and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal have also set deadlines before—none of which were met. Punjabis deserve to know what happened to those promises,” he said.
Bajwa demanded the resignation of excise minister Harpal Singh Cheema.
“This is not a time for hollow statements. The people of Punjab don’t want sympathy—they want justice. And justice starts with fixing responsibility. The Excise Department has failed. Cheema must resign immediately. Anything less would be an insult to those who lost their lives, he said.
Punjab