Chandigarh, Sept 28: On Thursday morning, Punjab Police detained Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira in connection with a 2015 narcotics case, according to official sources. Around six in the morning, Khaira’s Chandigarh home was raided by a Punjab Police squad under the direction of Superintendent of Police Manjeet Singh. The MLA’s son broadcast live on Facebook that a Punjab Police team had arrived at their home to arrest Khaira. Khaira could be seen disputing with the police officers and demanding to see the arrest warrant in the footage.Additionally, the Bholath politician was observed enquiring about the identities of the police personnel who took part in the raid. The police officer informed him that he was being detained in connection with a Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act case. Khaira inquired as to where they were taking him, and a policeman said that they were taking him to Jalalabad in Fazilka. Official sources state that Khaira was detained as a result of an inquiry into the 2015 case conducted by a special investigation team headed by Deputy Inspector General of Police Swapan Sharma.The Congress MLA, who has criticised the AAP government on a number of occasions, attacked the Bhagwant Mann administration, claiming that “jungle raj” was in effect in the state and that he was being detained in a “false” case. The AAP government was criticised by the Punjab Congress for engaging in political vengeance. Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, the head of the Congress state unit, and Partap Singh Bajwa, the leader of the opposition, both fiercely denounced Khaira’s detention.After Khaira’s detention, Warring went to his house and saw his son Mehtab Khaira and other family members. He declared that they support the Bholath MLA. The head of the Punjab Congress questioned the police action, inquiring as to what sort of investigation the Punjab police had carried out that resulted in Khaira’s arrest after eight years. Warring remarked, “It shows that ‘jungle raj’ is prevailing in the state,” and he questioned why Chandigarh Police were not present during the Punjab Police action.Warring claimed in a post on X that Sukhpal Khaira’s recent arrest “smacks of political vendetta. It is an effort by the AAP government in Punjab to intimidate the opposition and a ruse to divert attention from important concerns. We firmly support Sukhpal Khaira and will pursue this conflict to its inevitable conclusion. “The arrest of senior Congress leader Sukhpal Khaira is very regrettable,” remarked Bajwa. The Punjabi AAP administration has fallen to an all-time low and turned to vengeance politics. Sukhpal Singh Khaira has been vocal and open in his criticism of the wrongdoings and irregularities carried out by the government of CM Bhagwant Mann.“The Punjab Congress under the ambit of the law will leave no stone unturned to get him released,” he continued. The drug case was reported in Jalalabad, Fazilka, in March 2015. The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act was used to condemn nine people who had been arrested in the case. Two Pakistani SIM cards, 24 gold biscuits, a country-made pistol, a.315-bore pistol, and 2 kilogrammes of heroin were also found on them by the police. Later on, Khaira’s surfaced during the police investigation.The trial court proceedings against Khaira, who was called as an additional accused in the case, were, however, stayed by the Supreme Court in 2017. The Enforcement Directorate detained him in 2021 on suspicion of money laundering related to the cocaine case from the previous year. In 2022, bail was granted for him. The summoning order against Khaira in the 2015 narcotics case was revoked by the top court in February 2023. (Agencies)
