AAP leader Bhagwant Mann slams Punjab govt over hooch tragedy

Amritsar (Punjab) [India], August 2 : Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Bhagwant Mann on Sunday slammed the Punjab government over hooch tragedy and said when the government starts playing with the people's lives, they can't hope to benefit from that.
Addressing a press conference here he said, "When government itself turns to be merchant of deaths and when gardener betrays the garden, you cannot hope for spring in that garden. People don't have trust on the police and government. Political leaders and their PAs and other aides are being named in this case. Why Captain Saab is not investigating the matter."
He also said, "People are being asked for ice to put on the bodies of their family members and money is being asked for post-mortem in Tarn Taran hospitals. This is what you have done in the four months for the hospitals? There is no space in the hospitals to put dead bodies."
Speaking on the Rs 2-lakh compensation given by Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh to each of the families of the deceased in the hooch tragedy, he said, "It is just a lollipop given to the people so that the actual figure is hidden."
The hooch tragedy has claimed at least 86 lives in Punjab. The police have arrested 17 more people in a 'massive crackdown' spanning more than 100 raids. The total number of arrests in the case has gone up to 25, the police said.
Most of the deceased are from Tarn Taran, which accounts for 63 deaths, followed by Amritsar Rural at 12 and Gurdaspur (Batala) at 11.