Chandigarh, May 18 (Agency) Former Punjab Congress Chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Thursday alleged that the liquor cartel’s ‘facilitation’ by the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi and Punjab was ‘collusive and interwoven’. Sharing a news clip about the IT raids at the residence of liquor baron Deep Malhotra, Sidhu alleged in a long tweet on his twitter handle that in Delhi the Chief Minister and AAP National Convenor broke the policy laws and allocated more than 2 zones to the ‘blacklisted’ liquor magnate Deep Malhotra resulting in an alleged scam of 2200 crore adding that the similar policy was being implemented by Bhagwant Singh Mann government in Punjab. He said that it was testimony to the fact that the liquor trade was being run by private mafiain patronage of the government.
Mr Sidhu alleged that while the national capital’s policy was withdrawn in haste and was under the scanner of law, in Punjab the state government was trying to monopolise the liquor business by tailoring the policy to suit the big players. The Congress leader said already demands for CBI Investigation have been made by the opposition parties yet the state government tells the Hon’ble High Court that it will pass a fresh order on air pollution clearance to liquor factory in Zira, please clarify whether Deep Malhotra owns it or not ? He said soon he would join the protestors in Zira if such blatant encouragement of the mafia continues. ‘How can the Punjab State Liquor corporation come into existence when you have mafia connections? ‘ he asked and signed off with the comment “State Exchequer Suffers-Mafia Plunders”.