"Jungle Raj in Punjab": Congress delegation after briefing Guv about arrest of party MLA in 2015 drug case
Sep 28, 2023
Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], September 28 : Terming the arrest of Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira in connection with a 2015 drugs case as political vendetta, the party's Punjab unit chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring on Thursday said that the border state has turned into Jungle Raj.
Punjab Congress chief Warring was speaking to reporters after a party delegation met state Governor Banwari Lal Purohit and briefed him about the early morning arrest of Khaira.
"We briefed the Governor about everything that happened with Sukhpal Singh Khaira. How a false case was booked. How jungle raj has begun in Punjab. How vendetta politics is being done by involving him in an 8-year-old case...A set-up was made and without summoning him, a case was registered and police came directly to catch him," the Congress leader said.
Warring further hoped the Governor to take cognizance of the matter.
"We can't be silent. We will fight till the end...People know what the truth is...We hope that the Governor will take cognisance," he added.
Khaira was arrested in connection with an old case registered in 2015 under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Earlier in 2015, there were two cases originated with the unearthing of a cross-border drug smuggling network in Fazilka, Punjab, leading to the seizure of heroin, gold biscuits, weapons, cartridges, and Pakistani SIM cards and the second of a fake passport racket being run in Delhi.
As the trial went on, 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, having sheltered him and receiving financial benefits from drug traffickers, and enjoying the proceeds of crime.
On February 16, 2023, a Supreme Court bench of Justices BR Gavai and Vikram Nath quashed the summoning order against Khaira in the drugs case.
The arrest of Sukhpal Khaira is expected to further dent the relations of AAP and the Congress which have come together to form the INDIA alliance at the centre. The state unit of the Congress has opposed any tie-up or seat-sharing arrangement with the AAP in Punjab.
