The alleged suicide of a Dalit man who had purportedly questioned a Punjab minister over the state’s drug problem triggered a political storm on Tuesday, with opposition parties accusing the AAP government of failing to curb the menace and attempting to silence dissent.Gulzar Singh, 47, of Dirba in Sangrur district, died last night after allegedly consuming poison a day after he confronted the minister at an official event about the sale of drugs in the state and alleged that his own son was buying chitta. After the incident, two videos of Gulzar Singh went viral in which he purportedly claimed he had consumed pesticide and held the village sarpanch, some other villagers and the minister responsible for his death.His family later alleged that local police officials and AAP leaders had pressured him to apologise after he publicly questioned the minister.As Punjab gears up for elections, the alleged suicide has once again brought the issue of drug abuse to the forefront of political discourse.The Opposition slammed the government over the matter, which comes days after a Sangrur resident was allegedly beaten and tortured by the police for showing black flags to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann during a rally while raising the drugs issue.The BJP, Congress and the SAD have blamed the AAP government for failing to curb drug sale in the state and accused it of misrule. They have demanded that the FIR should also name Cheema for “forcing the victim to take the extreme step”. The AAP government maintains that it is doing its “best to end drugs and arrest all those involved in the nexus”. It accused the Opposition of playing dirty politics and unnecessarily dragging Finance Minister Harpal Cheema into the controversy.The Sangrur police have booked five persons, including village panchayat members, on the charges of abetment to suicide and under relevant provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Those named in the FIR are Baljit Singh, Gona Singh, Sukhdev Singh, Vicky Singh and Baljinder Singh.Earlier, high drama unfolded at the village cremation ground as police and district administration officials allegedly moved ahead with the last rites of the victim amid opposition from villagers and some relatives. Protesters accused the police of using force.Later, however, the victim’s family agreed to the cremation, stating that their demands had been met. They said the accused had been booked and the government had offered a job to a family member.