Jalandhar: Punjab Congress leader and Bholath MLA from Kapurthala district, Sukhpal Khaira, was arrested in connection with an old Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act case of 2015 by Fazilka Police from his official residence in Chandigarh at around 6 am on Thursday, September 28.Khaira, a vocal leader of Congress, was known for targeting the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab. Recently, when a Congress block president was shot dead in his house in Moga district, Khaira had questioned the AAP government about its claims of ‘Rangla Punjab’. He had also questioned AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha over his lavish wedding with Bollywood actor Parineeti Chopra.As soon as the Fazilka Police team reached Khaira’s official residence in Chandigarh, he immediately shared a message with the media informing them about the police raid. “I apprehend gross victimisation by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. It is Jalalabad Police, which has come to arrest me in an old NDPS case,” he wrote in a WhatsApp message.Khaira went live on Facebook when Fazilka police raided his house. In the video, the MLA could be seen questioning the police about the arrest warrant, to which the Fazilka Police informed that they came on the directions of a special investigation team (SIT), which was probing the 2015 NDPS Act case, in which Khaira’s name had also cropped up. The DSP, who led the police party, informed his name as Acchru Ram Sharma.Before sitting in the police vehicle, Khaira lashed out at chief minister Bhagwant Mann and raised ‘Punjab sarkar murdabad’ slogans. He said, “I do not mind such arrests but this is Jungle Raj in Punjab. I am being targeted for continuously protesting CM Bhagwant Mann.”What is the case?On March 9, 2015, the Fazilka Police seized two kilograms of heroin and gold biscuits from a vehicle in which nine people, including one Gurdev Singh, who was reportedly a close aide of Khaira, were arrested.The Fazilka police claimed that during the investigation, Khaira’s name came to the fore. It was also claimed by the police that Khaira spoke to Gurdev Singh 65 times from February 27, 2015 to March 8, 2015 from the mobile phone of his private secretary and personal security officer. A day after, on March 9, 2015, Khaira was arrested by the police.While Gurdev Singh and nine others were convicted and jailed for 20 years on October 31, 2017, Khaira was summoned by a trial court in Fazilka in November 2017.Earlier during his arrest, the Congress MLA kept claiming that the Supreme Court had quashed the case. However, the Fazilka Police arrested him once again in the same NDPS case.It is pertinent to mention here that Sukhpal Khaira was an AAP MLA and the Leader of the Opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha when he was arrested in this case.Also read: AAP, Sukhpal Singh Khaira and the Drugs Dilemma in PunjabKhaira had blamed the AAP leadership for hatching a conspiracy against him, and his supporters held protests across Punjab. He was removed as LoP by AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal in 2018.Later ahead of the 2019 General Election, Khaira launched his political party – Punjab Democratic Alliance – which failed to win a single seat in Punjab. Khaira rejoined Congress before the 2022 Punjab Assembly Election and won from Bholath defeating his nearest rival and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bibi Jagir Kaur.Congress leaders question the AAP governmentTargeting the AAP government, Leader of Opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Partap Singh Bajwa, in a video message condemned the AAP government and Punjab Police for its action against Sukhpal Khaira.On X (formerly Twitter), he wrote, “Today Punjab Police arrested our Kisan Wing chairman and Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira from his house at 6 am. The sad part is that the Punjab Police had no arrest warrants. Moreover, Chandigarh is a Union Territory (UT) and Punjab Police cannot arrest anybody without the consent of the UT Police. Punjab Police is infamous for ill-treatment of humans and they resorted to the same treatment with MLA Khaira. I want to remind the Bhagwant Mann government, Sarkaran sada nai chaldiya (Governments do not remain in power forever). We will fight for Sukhpal Khaira’s release and stand with his family. We will fight this war against Bhagwant Mann with full might.”ਮੁੱਖ ਮੰਤਰੀ @BhagwantMann ਸਰਕਾਰਾਂ ਸਦਾ ਨਹੀਂ ਰਹਿੰਦੀਆਂ, ਤੁਹਾਡੇ ਤਾਨਾਸ਼ਾਹ ਗੁੰਡਾ ਰਾਜ ਦੀ ਸਖ਼ਤ ਅਲੋਚਨਾ ਕਰਦਾ ਹਾਂ।ਮੈਂ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਕਾਂਗਰਸ ਦੇ ਸਾਰੇ ਕਾਡਰ ਨੂੰ ਵਿਸ਼ਵਾਸ ਦਿਵਾਉਂਦਾ ਹਾਂ ਕਿ ਅਸੀਂ ਪਾਰਟੀ ਦੀ ਸਮੁੱਚੀ ਲੀਡਰਸ਼ਿਪ ਅਤੇ ਹਰ ਵਰਕਰ ਸਹਿਬਾਨ ਨਾਲ ਚਟਾਨ ਵਾਂਗ ਖੜੇ ਹਾਂ।@SukhpalKhaira ਜੀ ਦੀ ਰਿਹਾਈ ਲਈ ਅਸੀਂ ਡਟ ਕੇ ਲੜਾਈ… pic.twitter.com/NaRDoqsARV— Partap Singh Bajwa (@Partap_Sbajwa) September 28, 2023Bajwa also said that today is the birth anniversary of Shaheed-E-Azam Bhagat Singh. “AAP government claims itself to be the followers of Bhagat Singh but was acting exactly opposite to his principles,” he said.Punjab Congress chief, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, also shared a post on X in Punjabi and said, “Congress is my family. I am standing like a rock with every leader and worker. Today morning, I met Sukhpal Khaira’s family and discussed the next legal fight.”ED case Earlier Khaira remained in jail for two months in a money laundering case registered against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in November 2021. It was found that Khaira’s bank transactions were worth Rs 4.8 crore whereas he had shown his income as Rs 99 lakh only.He was released in January 2022 days before the Punjab Assembly elections. Khaira remained lodged in Patiala Central Jail and was granted bail by the Punjab and Haryana high court after he paid a personal bond of Rs 5 lakh.
