Amritsar, Sept. 25 -- Rajya Sabha member and BJP national headquarters in-charge Tarun Chugh on Thursday alleged that an organised extortion network was operating from Punjab jails, with lawyers, doctors, businessmen, shopkeepers and farmers allegedly receiving threats from inmates. Linking the issue to drugs and gangsterism, he accused the AAP government of failing to check the menace.

Addressing gatherings during the BJP's Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra in the Amritsar Central, South and East constituencies, Chugh alleged that the extortion network enjoyed political patronage, without providing specific evidence for the allegations.

Chugh also accused the state government of failing to control the drug menace, alleging that narcotics were be...