Former Punjab Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Sunil Jakhar on Thursday, 15 October accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Punjab government of staging 'theatrics' in the name of fighting drugs, demanding answers from Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and state Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav over the reinstatement of drug inspector Shishan Mittal. Jakhar's accusations follow a fresh row over the Mansa incident and the state's broader anti-narcotics record.

The Shishan Mittal Case: What Jakhar Alleged

According to Jakhar, the Anti-Narcotics Task Force arrested inspector Shishan Mittal in September 2024 on allegations of colluding with drug traffickers lodged in prisons and laundering drug money. Mittal had been posted to Fazilka following complaints in Mansa and was reportedly arrested in Mohali during that posting.

The investigation allegedly led to the freezing of ₹7.09 crore across 24 bank accounts, while ₹1.149 crore in cash, approximately 260 grams of gold, and foreign currency were reportedly recovered from two lockers. Jakhar also cited alleged real estate holdings in Zirakpur and Rajasthan.

Reinstatement at Headquarters: The Central Charge

Jakhar questioned how Mittal, after being granted bail and reinstated in 2025, was allegedly entrusted with responsibilities relating to drug sample management at the department's headquarters. He described this as placing a person accused of being a 'kingpin' of a drug network back at the nerve centre of the very system he had allegedly compromised.

Jakhar urged the Chief Minister to determine, during a review of anti-drug measures scheduled for Friday, who had authorised Mittal's appointment to this sensitive position. He alleged the Mann government had treated the inspector as a 'source of illicit earnings' rather than a subject of rigorous investigation.

The ED Question: Why Was It Not Brought In?

A key line of Jakhar's attack centred on the absence of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the case despite the alleged recovery of foreign currency, frozen bank accounts, and suspected cross-border financial transactions — all indicators that would typically attract a money-laundering probe. He asked why the state government had not referred the case to the central agency, calling the oversight deliberate.

This comes amid a broader pattern in which opposition parties have repeatedly questioned Punjab's anti-drug resolve, arguing that high-profile arrests are followed by administrative rehabilitation rather than sustained prosecution. Notably, this is not the first time that the status of an arrested official in the state's drug enforcement chain has drawn political scrutiny.

Broader Questions on Punjab's Anti-Drug Record

Beyond the Mittal case, Jakhar posed a series of specific questions: how many other drug inspectors had faced departmental or criminal action following this episode; how far investigations into traffickers' money trails had progressed; and what concrete steps had been taken to dismantle networks being operated from within prisons.

He asserted that the AAP government's public posturing on the drug menace was at odds with its administrative decisions, and called on Chief Minister Mann to provide verifiable answers rather than 'theatrical' press statements.

Government Yet to Respond

The Punjab government had not issued an official response to Jakhar's allegations at the time of reporting. The Friday anti-drug review meeting cited by Jakhar is expected to be a flashpoint, with the opposition likely to press further on the Mittal reinstatement and the ED referral question. How the Mann administration handles these charges could shape the political narrative around Punjab's drug crisis heading into the winter legislative session.