SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Tuesday made a public appearance for the first time since registration of the case against him in December as he paid obeisance at a gurdwara in Panchkula.
Addressing a press conference later, he said, “it is now crystal clear that I was targeted as part of a vendetta exercise by the Congress government and its top leadership”. The former minister said “truth has won despite a clear cut conspiracy by the Congress government to use threats and allurements to implicate me in a false case”.
Majithia said never before in the history of the State have three DGPs and four Directors of the Bureau of Investigation (BOI) been changed in such a short period. He said the chief minister and home minister Sukhjinder Randhawa held meetings on a daily basis to frame him in a false case. “The government even ran away from the PIL being heard on the issue of drug menace in the region to file a false case against me which was done on the orders of DGP S Chattopadhyay who was brought in especially for this purpose,” he said.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday had granted him an anticipatory bail in the NDPS case filed against him. He was also directed to join the investigation with the police on Wednesday. The former Punjab minister has been asked not to leave the country till the next date of hearing.
He is also required to share with the investigating agency his live location through WhatsApp. Majithia was spotted wearing a yellow turban and jeans when he paid obeisance at the Nada Sahib gurudwara about 20 km from here. The 46-year-old Akali leader was booked December 20 last year under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act on the basis of a 2018 report of a probe into the drug racket in Punjab.
The report was filed by anti-drug special task force (STF) chief Harpreet Singh Sidhu in the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2018. Despite police conducting raids, Majithia could not be arrested. Majithia is the brother-in-law of Sukhbir Badal and the brother of former Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal.
PUNJAB MINISTER RANDHAWA REMINDS MAJITHIA THAT HE IS NOT A 'FREEDOM FIGHTER' BUT A 'DRUG PEDDLER' ON RUN
Punjab Minister Punjab Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on Tuesday said that by eulogising Modi and BJP, Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia has proved that Akali-BJP were standing hand in glove with each other in clandestine manner.
In a statement issued here, Randhawa said that by praising BJP, Majithia has made it clear that Akali BJP pact was still intact and the entire gimmick of Akalis on farm laws was aimed at misleading people.
Taking a strong stance over the Akali leader rejoicing "shamelessly" over his interim bail, Randhawa reminded him that he is not a ‘freedom fighter’ but a ‘drug peddler’ on the run and the Akali leader will have to soon pay for his sins against Punjab and its youth. Randhawa said that it is shameful that the Akali leader is celebrating his interim bail, which too has been given by court with certain riders. He said that Akai leader seems to have forgotten that his trial will be held in the court where he will be made accountable for his involvement in sheltering the drug trade and ruining the lives of millions of youth of the state. He said that Majithia can’t escape from the punishment for this heinous and unpardonable crime.
Randhawa said that if Majithia was so much clean and then why he was hiding like a ‘mouse’ and running away from the clutches of law in the last 20 days. Rather than running away he should have voluntarily come forward and joined the investigation. Randhawa reminded the Akali leader that he has been just granted bail, that too with restrictions, by the court and has not been exonerated from his sins against the state and its people.
He said that the celebrations by Akali cadres over this issue reflect the moral degradation of the party which once stood for the cause of Punjab and Sikh panth. He said that earlier Akalis used to court arrest for safeguarding the interests of the state but now their self proclaimed ‘tallest leader’ is running away to evade the arrest as his hands are drenched in drug trade. He said that people will teach Akalis a lesson for this crime and they will be sent to political oblivion after the ensuing polls.
CHANNI GOVT COLLUDED WITH BADAL FAMILY IN DRUGS CASE: AAP
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab President and MP Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday said that AAP has been saying from the very first day that Channi government has colluded with Badal family in drug case because Badals saved Charanjit Channi’s brother in City Centre scam and now Channi has returned the favour by saving Bikram Singh Majithia in drug case. Mann said that the Channi government did nothing in their 111 days regime and even failed to maintain the law and order in Punjab.
Addressing a press conference , Mann accused Charanjit Singh Channi of taking a light and time pass action against Bikram Majithia in drugs case. He alleged that there was a ‘deal’, between Channi and Badal family, in place even before the FIR that Congress government would file a weak case against Majithia and no concrete action would be taken. That’s why Congress government did not arrest Majithia even after FIR or the rejection of his anticipatory bail from Mohali District Court.