Arrested drug lord Jagdish Singh Bhola has confessed to funding several politicians of the Malwa region during the 2012 assembly elections in the state.
Bhola had funded the Akali leaders besides two Congress leaders as he had anticipated a Congress government in the state. He even reportedly tried to meet a senior Congress leader in Ludhiana during electioneering. So far Bhola had confessed to funding four politicians of the Malwa region during the assembly campaign, said highly-placed sources.
The role of his accomplices who were active in Majha was an open secret, said sources.
The political-drug mafia nexus was already highlighted by the arrest of Akali leader Maninder Singh Bittu Aulakh and businessman Jagjit Singh Chahal.
SSP Hardial Singh Mann said, "Bhola has confessed to political fundings during the last elections, but we can't reveal the names before verifying them."
The police have also prepared a dossier on three Chinese in order to approach Interpol to issue lookout notices for them. These Chinese had trained Bhola for making the ICE and other opium derivatives, said the SSP. The two Chinese identified by the police are Liu Gang and Xu Ding.
Meanwhile, the police remand of Bhola, Sarabjit Singh Saba, Harpreet Singh, Baljinder Singh and Ravinder Singh has been extended till November 22.
The SSP said Saba was a hardcore criminal who started as a vehicle thief and had stolen hundreds of vehicles from Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat. Gradually, Saba got involved in other crimes and became a major operative of the drug racket controlled by Bhola, he added.
{{/usCountry}}The SSP said Saba was a hardcore criminal who started as a vehicle thief and had stolen hundreds of vehicles from Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat. Gradually, Saba got involved in other crimes and became a major operative of the drug racket controlled by Bhola, he added.
{{/usCountry}}On Monday, the police also recovered seven stolen vehicles from various parts of the state.