Bhola drug racket: Two-member panel to suggest action on STF report on Bikram Majithia

State to reply in three weeks: A TV channel claims STF has prima facie found evidence against former Akali minister.

The Punjab government has appointed a two-member panel to examine and suggest action on the special task force (STF) report on the alleged role of former revenue minister and Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia with drug traffickers.

A private TV channel on Thursday evening claimed that “STF report has prima facie found evidence against Majithia and recommended further probe”. However, Hindustan Times could not verify it. (HT File)

The report, prepared by the STF headed by IPS officer HS Sidhu, was submitted in a sealed cover to high court on February 1.

A private TV channel on Thursday evening claimed that “STF report has prima facie found evidence against Majithia and recommended further probe”. However, Hindustan Times could not verify it.

Punjab advocate general Atul Nanda told a special division bench of high court presided over by justice Surya Kant and justice Shekher Dhawan that the STF report was examined by chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who also holds home portfolio. The CM assigned it to two senior officers, said Nanda, not disclosing the name of officers.

The court gave three weeks to the advocate general to submit as to what action the government plans to take on the basis of the report. “Both the officers are unwell hence they could not finalise as to what action the government can take,” Nanda said, seeking more time to apprise the court.

The ED summoned Majithia twice in 2015 in the money-laundering probe in the Jagdish Bhola drug racket. On the statements of three accused — sacked DSP Jagdish Bhola, businessman Jagjit Singh Chahal and SAD leader Maninder Singh Aulakh — in 2014 and 2015, the ED found “complicity of Majithia in the drug trade”.