00:00Let's turn to another political storm, this time in Punjab over the state's drug menace.
00:06Gulzar Singh, a Sangroor resident who questioned Punjab's finance minister Harpal Singh Chima
00:11over the easy availability of drugs, has died by suicide after consuming poison.
00:18Before his death, Gulzar named the minister in the village Sarpanch for allegedly putting pressure on him
00:23after he raised the drug issue. Opposition parties ahead of the elections in Punjab have picked on the story
00:29and saying that the ARP minister must be held accountable. Take a look.
00:37Punjab's Chitta scourge has claimed yet another life.
00:41Gulzar Singh of Sangroor died by suicide after consuming poison on Monday.
00:47Days earlier, he had confronted state finance minister Harpal Singh Chima
00:51over the easy availability of Chitta or drugs.
00:55Before his death, Gulzar recorded a statement.
00:59Blaming Chima and the village Sarpanch for his plight.
01:15Gulzar's family alleges that after confronting the minister,
01:18local armed army party leaders pressured him to apologize.
01:39The allegations have now exploded into a full-blown political battle.
01:43The opposition has accused the Maan government of failing to curb the drug menace,
01:48seeking the arrest of Harpal Singh Chima and a CBI probe.
02:15The ruling armed army party insists the BJP and Congress are trying to milk a tragedy for political gain.
02:45An abetment to suicide case has been registered.
02:49Harpal Singh Chima, however, has not been named in the FIR.
02:54The NHRC, too, has stepped in, directing the Punjab government to submit an action-taken report within two weeks.
03:02The controversy comes barely days after another anti-drug protest plunged the Maan government into a storm.
03:10Mohanjeet Singh had waved a black flag at Chief Minister Bhagwant Man while protesting over the drug menace.
03:17He was detained and later allegedly faced brutal torture in custody, including being given electric shocks.
03:26The allegations forced the government to transfer a DSP and sent three other police personnel to the police lines.
03:33Punjab was promised a war on drugs.
03:36But has the war now turned on those questioning the menace?
03:41With Kamaljeet Kaur Sandhu, Bureau Report, India Today.
