Punjab: Akali leader Majithia appears before SIT in drugs case

Says he was summoned by the special investigation team of Punjab Police because he had spoken against chief minister Bhagwant Mann, who was using the state machinery against him

Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Monday appeared before a special investigation team of Punjab Police in Patiala for questioning in a drugs case.

Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former state minister Bikram Singh Majithia speaking to the media as he headed to depose before a special investigation team of Punjab Police in a drugs case in Patiala on Monday. (HT Photo)

Tight security arrangements were made around the SIT office. Majithia reached the office along with his counsel at 11.45am. The SIT is led by additional director general of police (Patiala range) Mukhwinder Singh Chhina.

Before reaching the SIT office in Patiala, Majithia said he is a law-abiding citizen and has complete faith in the law.

The SAD leader accused the Aam Aadmi Party government of playing politics over the drugs issue and claimed that he was summoned by the SIT because he was speaking against chief minister Bhagwant Mann. He alleged that Mann was using the state machinery against him.

Majithia was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act on December 20, 2021, during the Charanjit Singh Channi-led government’s tenure. The action was taken based on a 2018 report of the anti-drug Special Task Force. The FIR was registered by the state crime branch at its Mohali police station.

In August last year, Majithia came out of the Patiala jail after the Punjab and Haryana high court granted him bail in the drugs case. He was released after spending more than five months in prison.

“While granting me bail, the high court had said there was no evidence against me,” said Majithia, a former minister and the brother-in-law of Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal.