Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Friday said a drug case has been registered against Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia as there is enough evidence against him and the STF report points to it. The CM also vowed to catch the “big fish” involved in the drug racket and slammed his predecessor Amarinder Singh, saying he had not made the STF report on it public and now made a statement in “support” of Majithia.
Majithia, 46, was booked on Monday under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, based on a 2018 status report of a drug racket investigation in the state. The Union Home Ministry has issued a lookout circular against the former Punjab minister, which bars him from leaving the country.
Majithia has moved the Mohali court for anticipatory bail. Channi told reporters here that the drug racket had come to the fore in 2013, when the SAD-BJP government was in power in the state.
He said the Enforcement Directorate has been probing the case since 2013, when now-sacked policeman Jagdish Singh Bhola, the alleged kingpin in the synthetic drug case, was arrested by the Punjab Police. Channi said Bhola had taken Majithia’s name in front of the media after his arrest in January 2014.
“The STF report mentions that there is sufficient evidence against Bikram Majithia. Later, we converted that report into an FIR,” he told reporters, denying any political vendetta. Channi blamed his predecessor Amarinder Singh and the then Advocate General for not making the STF report public and initiating any action on it.
“The cat has come out of the hut. Now Amarinder Singh is also coming out in support of Majithia,” he alleged. Channi said the matter was taken forward after he became the chief minister. He also criticized AAP’s national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who had termed the registration of the case against Majithia a “political stunt” just before the elections. Channi said Kejriwal should first clarify his stand as it was the AAP leader who had earlier apologized to Majithia. Kejriwal had apologized to Majithia for making “baseless” allegations, following which the Akali leader decided to withdraw a court case against the Delhi CM.
The apology comes after Manjinder Singh Sirsa, then Shiromani Akali Dal leader, struck a deal between Majtihiya and Kejriwal. Referring to the case against Majithia now, Channi said that Kejriwal should now apologize to the people of Punjab.
The CM said a case was registered against Majithia after he was convinced. “First of all, I reassured myself and told my officers that what we are doing must be right. First, I came to know what the reality is and when I was convinced, we took up the issue and moved on. First, I listened to my conscience,” he said.
Channi said, “This fight (against drugs) is the country’s fight, this is Punjab’s fight, it is a fight to secure the future of our youth. We will not spare those who spread drugs and take up this matter.” bring it to a logical conclusion.” , He added that the assets and businesses of the “big fish” involved in the drug racket would also now be under scrutiny.
“Unless you catch the big fish, it doesn’t send the message down,” Chaney said.
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