In connection with a narcotics case, Fazlika's Jalalabad court sends the detained Punjab Congress legislator Sukhpal Singh Khaira to police custody till September 30, news agency ANI reported. Earlier today, a team of Punjab Police officials searched Khaira's residence in connection with an old case recorded under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in Jalalabad in 2015. Following his dramatic arrest at his residence in Chandigarh early in the morning, Khaira, who represents Bholath seat in the Punjab assembly, was placed before the chief judicial magistrate in Jalalabad in the afternoon.
Slamming Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Khaira told media: “They (the Aam Aadmi Party leaders) used to say that we are doing ‘badlaav ki rajneeti (politics of change)’ but they are doing ‘badle ki rajneeti (politics of revenge)’. Bhagwant Mann has become thirsty for blood. I won’t be surprised if he gets me eliminated. I sense something very dangerous and he will be solely responsible.”
Khaira said that the AAP had detained him in order to delegitimize the Congress in Punjab.
A Punjab Congress delegation held a meeting with Governor Banwarilal Purohit in Chandigarh.
In 2015, two charges were filed in connection with the discovery of a cross-border drug smuggling network in Fazilka, which resulted in the confiscation of heroin, gold biscuits, guns, ammunition, and Pakistani SIM cards; and a false passport scam operating in Delhi.
As the trial progressed, nine smugglers, including Gurdev Singh, Manjit Singh, Harbans Singh, and Subhash Chander, were jailed in connection with the Fazilka case in October 2017. According to the chargesheet, Khaira was close to Gurdev Singh, the chief of the Fazilka drug smuggling ring, and is accused of harbouring him.
The main charges against Khaira are that he supported an international network of smugglers, that he housed him and received financial advantages from drug traffickers, and that he enjoyed the rewards of the crime.