Chandigarh: The Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Wednesday arrested Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and former Minister Bikram Singh Majithia from his residence in a posh locality in Amritsar city on charges of laundering more than Rs 540 crore of drug money.
Investigations by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the police probing the first information report (FIR) of 2021 and the Vigilance Bureau revealed massive laundering of drug money facilitated by Majithia, the government said.
Preliminary investigations revealed that more than Rs 540 crore drug money has been laundered through several ways, including a huge unaccounted cash of Rs 161 crore deposited in bank accounts of companies controlled by Majithia, channelisation of Rs 141 crore through suspected foreign entities and excess deposition of Rs 236 crore without disclosure or explanation in company financial statements.
Also, the government said there is an acquisition of movable and immovable assets by Majithia without any legitimate source of income.
A Vigilance Bureau spokesperson told the media that it has registered a case based on a report of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) registered under Sections 25, 27-A and 29 of the NDPS Act, wherein substantial evidence has been uncovered indicating massive laundering of drug money by Majithia.
These transactions are being investigated by the bureau, and the investigations done clearly indicated that these funds were laundered drug money funnelled into Saraya Industries, allegedly facilitated by Majithia.
The spokesperson said Rs 540 crore drug money has been tracked so far as having been generated illegally and by using the influence of Majithia as a public servant, being a legislator and holding a Cabinet post in the previous state government.
The spokesperson said assets, including both immovable and movable assets in the name of Majithia and his wife, Genieve Kaur, have increased substantially, for which no legitimate source of income has been provided.
Searches and seizures have been conducted by the SIT of 22 people and by the Vigilance Bureau at three locations, which have yielded over 30 mobile phones, five laptops, three iPads, two desktops, several diaries and many property documents and documents of Saraya Industries.
Investigations are ongoing, and more arrests, searches and seizures would take place. The investigations would be taken to their logical conclusion by submitting all collected evidence before the court of competent jurisdiction for judicial verdict, said the spokesperson.
Majithia has been facing charges under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act since December 2021, ahead of the Assembly elections in Punjab.
Majithia, who has been saying the cases were politically motivated, contending they had already been investigated by high-ranking police officers, is the brother of former Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal and brother-in-law of SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal.
Responding to raids on Majithia’s residence, Sukhbir Badal on X said: “Shiromani Akali Dal stands steadfast with Bikram Singh Majithia. It is clear that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and the Aam Aadmi Party have been unnerved by the resolute manner in which Majithia has taken on the government and exposed its corrupt and amoral acts.”
“We will not be cowed down by the brutal attempts to suppress the voice of the people expressed by Majithia and other Akali leaders by letting loose state agencies against them. This is not the first time that the political vendetta has been unleashed against the Akali leadership. We will take it head-on,” he added.
Responding to the Akali Dal leader’s arrest, state Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal highlighted the deep-rooted issue of drug proliferation during the 10-year regime of the SAD-BJP alliance (2007–2017), describing it as a period when “sixth river of drugs” was said to flow in Punjab.
He reminded the public of testimonies such as that of notorious drug smuggler Jagdish Bhola, who named Majithia in court in 2013. Despite these revelations, successive governments failed to take action, even as lives were devastated by the drug crisis.
(IANS)
