Congress MLA Sukhpal Khaira has been taken into custody by Punjab police in connection with a 2015 drugs case. Police took Khaira with them from his house in Chandigarh after conducting raids here, his family said, as quoted by PTI. As per the information, police have taken him to Jalalabad. A video shared by news agency PTI shows police officials and Khaira's family in a discussion where the Congress leader asks for his arrest warrant. While moving towards the door with the police, Khaira shouts, "Punjab Sarkar Murdabad".
"It is jungle raj in Punjab," he adds.
Reacting to this, Punjab Congress Chief Amarinder Singh Warring took to X, formerly Twitter, and called it "political vendetta".
"The recent arrest of @INCPunjab MLA @SukhpalKhaira ji smacks of Political Vendetta, it is an attempt to intimidate the opposition and is a ploy of the @AAPPunjab govt to distract from core issues. We stand strongly with Sukhpal Khaira and will take this fight to its logical conclusion."
However, there has been no official word on Khaira being taken into police custody. Someone from Khaira's family went live on Facebook showing a team of Punjab Police at his residence to apprehend Khaira. In the video, the Congress leader could be seen arguing with the police officials and asking them to show the arrest warrant.
The Bholath MLA also asks for the identity of the police officers. According to PTI, when Khaira asked where he was being taken, a police official told him that he was being taken to Jalalabad in Fazilka.
A drugs case was registered against several people in March 2015 at Jalalabad in Fazilka. As per the agency, nine people were booked in the case and later convicted under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The Supreme Court stayed the trial proceedings against the Congress legislator in 2017, who was summoned as an additional accused in the matter, PTI stated in the report.