Moga, Mar 21 (IANS): Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal said on Thursday that the hooch tragedy in Sangrur, which is the home district of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, is indicative of the state of affairs in Punjab, as he demanded a judicial probe into the incident.

The SAD chief spoke to the media during the Moga and Dharamkot leg of his 'Punjab Bachao Yatra'.

On the recent hooch tragedy in Sangrur, in which the death toll has mounted to eight now, Badal said, “This is what happens when governance takes a fall and you allow your legislators to collude with illegal liquor and drug traffickers. I have been stating repeatedly that AAP legislators are sheltering drug traffickers and even taking cuts from them. The latest hooch tragedy reveals how deep the rot has set in."

Rejecting the SDM-level probe ordered into the tragedy, Badal said, “Such a junior officer cannot identify the kingpins behind this illegal (liquor) trade or indict the politicians sheltering them. A judicial probe should be ordered into the entire incident.

"Also, as the Chief Minister has been stating publicly, a murder case should be registered against the perpetrators of this tragedy as well as the politicians patronising them."

Claiming that the Chief Minister is unaffected by the misery of the common man, Badal said, “Bhagwant Mann is busy serving his boss Arvind Kejriwal. He is even looting the coffers of Punjab for AAP's election campaigns in other states."

He also accused the Chief Minister of failing the farmers, not once but thrice.

“The farmers were denied compensation when their crops were destroyed by floods, hailstorms, and spurious pesticides,” the SAD chief said.

He said even now the Chief Minister is busy "singing songs" in his car even when people are dying in his home district after consuming spurious liquor".