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SAD chief Sukhbir detained in Mohali, solidarity march for Majithia thwarted
Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was whisked away from Gurdwara Amb Sahib in Mohali, accused the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government of imposing an “undeclared emergency” in the state.
Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and his party workers were taken into preventive custody by Punjab Police in Mohali on Wednesday to prevent them from marching to the district court complex to express solidarity with SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia, who has been arrested in a disproportionate assets case.
Majithia is to be produced in a Mohali court as his seven-day vigilance remand comes to an end. Heavy police deployment has been made outside the Vigilance Bureau (VB) office and the district court complex in Mohali.
Badal, who was whisked away from Gurdwara Amb Sahib in Mohali, accused the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government of imposing an “undeclared emergency” in the state for cracking down on SAD workers who had the right to express solidarity with Majithia.
“Bhagwant Mann has imposed an undeclared emergency in Punjab. Akali workers proceeding to Mohali today for expressing solidarity with Bikram Singh Majithia, who has been framed in a false case by the Aam Aadmi Party government, are being detained at their houses and even being stopped at nakas (police checkpoints) put up on all major roads. Such repressive acts smack of cowardice. It is clear that chief minister @BhagwantMann is rattled by the outpouring of support for Bikram,” Badal posted on X.
“I want to make it clear that Akali Dal and its workers will not be deterred by such repressive acts. In the past also the Akalis have countered repression with people’s movements. Now also we will teach a befitting lesson to the corrupt and dictatorial @AamAadmiParty regime with the support of Punjabis,” he said.
According to the party, its workers in Amritsar, Beas and other places across Punjab have been detained at their houses.
The VB arrested Majithia on June 25 for his alleged involvement in laundering over ₹540 crore of drug money. He was sent to seven-day vigilance remand on June 26 by a Mohali court.
In the FIR registered, the VB claimed that preliminary investigations revealed that the drug money was laundered through several ways and it was allegedly facilitated by Majithia.
The FIR stems from an ongoing investigation being conducted by a Punjab Police special investigation team into the 2021 drugs case.
In 2021, Majithia was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act on the basis of a 2018 report of the anti-drug special task force. After spending more than five months in Patiala jail, he walked free in August 2022 after the Punjab and Haryana high court granted him bail.
