Senior Congress leader and sitting MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira was arrested by Punjab police on Thursday from his Chandigarh home in connection with an old drug-related case.
Though the Punjab Police are yet to issue any statement on the arrest, Khaira went live on Facebook where he and the policemen were seen arguing about the raid to arrest him.
Sources said that Khaira has been arrested for his alleged involvement in a drug smuggling network and money laundering.
In 2015, the police had unearthed a cross-border drug smuggling network in Fazilka, leading to the seizure of heroin, gold biscuits, weapons, cartridges, and Pakistani SIM cards, as well as the discovery of a fake passport racket being run in Delhi.
Nine smugglers, including Gurdev Singh, Manjit Singh, Harbans Singh, and Subhash Chander, were sentenced in October 2017 in connection with the Fazilka case.
As per the chargesheet, Khaira was closely associated with Gurdev Singh, the leader of the Fazilka drug smuggling racket, and is accused of having sheltered him.
The primary accusations against Khaira include supporting an international gang of smugglers, sheltering him, receiving financial benefits from drug traffickers, and enjoying the proceeds of crime.
The Investigation Agency had filed a charge sheet against Khaira for money laundering in the 2017 Fazilka drug smuggling racket.
Punjab police investigations revealed substantial unexplained cash deposits in Khaira and his family members’ bank accounts over the years. However, Khaira has rejected all the allegations and claimed that the apex court had quashed the NDPS case.
The Congress was quick to react, claiming that Khaira was arrested as part of political witch-hunting unleashed by the Mann government. Congress chief Raja Warring said that the party would contest the allegations against Khaira legally and threatened protests against the arrest. Akali Dal has also criticized the arrest.