Police use water cannon, tear gas to disperse BJYM activists trying to lay siege to Punjab CM’s house

The police on Monday lobbed tear gas shells and used water cannon to disperse BJYM activists trying to lay siege to the official residence of Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh in Chandigarh over his alleged failure to curb drug menace in the state.

Leaders and several activists of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) — the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – were detained by the police.

Protesters led by BJYM’s Punjab chief Bhanu Pratap Rana raised slogans against the Congress-led dispensation and alleged that the chief minister had “failed” to wipe out drug menace from Punjab.

The Chandigarh Police had deployed police personnel and put up barricades to prevent the BJYM activists from heading towards the chief minister’s residence.

But when the protesters tried to force their way through the barricades, police used water cannon to disperse them at sector 17 here. Police also used teargas shells to stop the protesters.

Earlier, talking to the media, Rana slammed the Amarinder Singh-led government in Punjab for not being able to curb the drug trade in the state which has “flourished” under Congress rule.

He said before coming to power in 2017, Amarinder Singh had promised to wipe out drug menace from the state.

But he has completely “failed” in doing so. In fact, drug trade has “flourished in the state”, Rana claimed.