Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Friday said SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia has been booked in a drug case as there is enough evidence against him and an STF report points to it.
At the same time, the Chief Minister vowed to catch the “big fish” involved in the drug racket. Channi also slammed his predecessor Capt Amarinder Singh, saying that he did not make the STF report public and now gave a statement in Majthia’s “support”.
Channi, addressing the media, said that the drug racket had come to the fore in 2013, when the SAD-BJP government was in power in the state.
“The Enforcement Directorate has been investigating the case since 2013, when now dismissed policeman Jagdish Singh Bhola, alleged kingpin in the synthetic drug case, was arrested by the Punjab Police. It was Bhola who had taken Majithia’s name in front of the media after his arrest in January 2014,” said Channi.
“The STF report mentioned that there is enough evidence against Bikram Majithia. Later, we converted that report into an FIR,” he said while ruling out any political vendetta.
Channi held his predecessor Capt Amarinder and the then Advocate-General Atul Nanda responsible for not making the STF report public and initiating any action on it.
“The cat has come out of bag. Now, Amarinder Singh is also coming out in Majithia’s support,” he alleged, adding that after becoming the CM, the matter was pursued.
Later addressing a gathering at Dholbaha (Hoshiarpur), Channi said the Badals, BJP, Capt Amarinder and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal all are culprits of Punjab as they had patronised the drug trade in State. “While in power, the Badals, BJP and Capt Amarinder had shielded the accused of drug trade, Kejriwal had backstabbed Punjabis through supporting drug mafia by tendering unconditional apology to Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia,” he said.
Channi, however, took the pledge that he will eradicate the curse of drugs from the state for which the State Government has already set the wheels in motion.
Channi, slammed AAP national convener Kejriwal, who had dubbed the registration of the case against Majithia a “political stunt” just before the polls, said that Delhi Chief Minister must clarify his stand first because it was AAP leader who had earlier tendered an apology to Majithia.
Kejriwal had tendered an apology to Majithia for having levelled “unfounded” allegations, after which the Akali leader decided to withdraw a court case against the Delhi CM, said Channi adding that the apology came after a compromise was brokered between Majtihia and Kejriwal by Manjinder Singh Sirsa, who was then a SAD leader.
Referring to the case against Majithia now, Channi said that Kejriwal must now apologise to people of Punjab.
He said that the case was lodged against Majithia after he was convinced of it. “First of all, I convinced myself and asked my officers that what we are doing has to be right. First, I found out what the reality is and when I was convinced…then we took up the issue and moved forward. First, I listened to my conscience,” he said.
“This fight (against drug menace) is the nation's fight, this is Punjab’s fight, this is the fight to secure future of our youth. We will not spare those who spread the drug menace and take this case to its logical conclusion,” Channi said.
He said that the property and businesses of the “big fish” whose involvement is found in the drug racket will also be under the scanner now. “Till the time you do not catch big fish, it does not send out a message below,” Channi said.
On the Akali Dal accusing his government of politics in the registration of a case against SAD MLA Bikram Singh Majithia, Channi said he could not ignore his conscience. “I realised that he (Majithia) was responsible for ruining the youth of the state by spreading the menace of drugs. I did not want any excesses against anyone,” he said. On why it took so long to file an FIR against Majithia, when the STF report on which it is based had been lying with the High Court since 2018, Channi said that the Government acted after the Court allowed it to act.