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Drug allegations against Majithia false: Dera Beas chief after meeting SAD leader in jail
Breaking his usual silence on the case, Gurinder Singh Dhillon describes Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia as a friend and relative during his second visit to the prison in four months.
Breaking his usual silence on the case, Radha Soami Satsang Beas head Gurinder Singh Dhillon on Monday termed the drug-related money laundering allegations against jailed Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia false.
The Dera Beas chief’s remarks after a 30-minute closed-door meeting with Majithia at the New District Jail in Nabha came around the same time that the Supreme Court granted bail to Majithia, a former minister in the Punjab government, in the disproportionate assets case in which he has been behind bars .
This marks the second such high-profile visit by the spiritual leader to the prison; he had previously met the SAD leader on September 23 last year.
“All these (allegations) are false,” the Dera Beas said while responding to questions on the drug allegations against Majithia outside the jail. This is the first time that he has spoken on the issue. “He (Majithia) is my friend. I will meet him. He is in high spirits,” Dhillon told reporters. Asked about the nature of the visit, he replied, “If someone is your relative, won’t you meet him?”
The Dera Beas head, however, remained tightlipped on the political machinery behind the investigation. Asked about the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party government’s role in the probe, he said it “did not suit him” to comment on the matter.
Followers of the Radha Soami sect, which is headquartered in Beas town, about 45 km from Amritsar, gathered outside the Nabha jail to catch a glimpse of the spiritual leader. He greeted them amid tight security before proceeding to Hira Mahal, the residence of the descendants of the erstwhile royal family of Nabha.
Majithia was arrested by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau from his residence in Amritsar on June 25 last year in a disproportionate assets case allegedly involving laundering of ₹540 crore of drug money. On August 22, the VB had filed a 40,000-page chargesheet in a Mohali court. The FIR claims that ₹540 crore of drug money was laundered with Majithia’s facilitation and stems from a Punjab Police special investigation team probe into the 2021 drug case.
