Chandigarh, October 22: Punjab Congress president Pargat Singh on Thursday accused the state government of failing to act against those responsible for the sale of banned capsules, claiming that such products continued to be sold under different names despite restrictions imposed by the previous Congress government, ANI reported.

Source: ANI via Indian Economic Observer

Referring to anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota's actions in 2023, Pargat Singh said he had an official notification showing that Jhota had caught a shopkeeper selling the capsules. "In 2023, Parvinder Jhota caught a shopkeeper selling these capsules, and I have the official notification to prove it. The Congress government banned those capsules in 2021 in several districts, yet they continued to be sold under different names," he said. These are Pargat Singh's claims, reported as his statement.

He further said that six shops had been closed and their licences cancelled following the latest incident. "Since the latest incident, six shops have been closed, and licences cancelled. This means those capsules were being sold," he said, according to ANI.

'Government has failed' — and a warning

Questioning accountability in public health, the Punjab Congress chief said people would find it difficult to trust the system if those responsible for protecting public health were corrupt. "I respect medical professionals, but if those responsible for public health are corrupt, who can people trust? The government here has failed. Those responsible have fled," he said. He warned that those responsible would face action if the Congress returned to power: "Once we form the government, we will bring them back. Those responsible for harming Punjab will not go unpunished."

A day earlier, on Wednesday, Pargat Singh had hit back at Union Home Minister Amit Shah over his Punjab visit, alleging that the BJP had been making promises for 13 years without delivering, and claiming — as an allegation — that medicinal drugs were coming to Punjab from Gujarat and Maharashtra, ANI reported via Devdiscourse. He said he did not oppose the Jhota family's demand for a CBI investigation into the activist's killing.

Source: ANI via Devdiscourse

The banned-capsules row has drawn renewed attention since Jhota, who campaigned against the alleged sale of addictive medicines by medical stores in Mansa, was killed on October 13. Dainik Jagran reported that Pargat Singh has demanded an independent investigation into the alleged illegal sales and has called for a probe under High Court supervision; the controversy has also drawn attention to restrictions on pregabalin capsules, including an Amritsar district order that capsules or tablets above 75 mg cannot be sold without an original prescription, listed as effective from October 5 to December 4, 2026.

Source: Dainik Jagran English

The Punjab government's response to Pargat Singh's specific Thursday statement was not available in the sources reviewed at the time of publishing. His allegations against the government, shopkeepers and officials are claims made by the Congress leader and remain to be established through official findings.