Wahid, who is one of the former partners of the Golden Sandhar Sugar Mill at Phagwara, was arrestedby vigilance sleuths along with his wife Rupinder Kaur and son Sandeep Singh at about 10.25 am from his palatialresidence on the Hoshiarpur Road.
Wahid is also the former chairman of Markfed.As per information, Wahid has been arrested for selling mill land on forged documents.A team led by SSP, Vigilance Bureau, Jalandhar Range Rajeshwar Singh Sidhu raided his home.
An FIR (no. 26) under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471, 166 and 176 of the IPC had been registered at the Vigilance Bureau police station this morning against Wahid, after which the raid was carried out.
SSP Vigilance, Jalandhar, Rajeshwar Singh Sidhu said, “A complaint was received this morningagainst Wahid as per which an FIR was lodged. The FIR has been registered because he indulged in the illegal sale of government land. Mill land belongs to the government, but he sold it on forged documents. Even though he has no right to do so.”
While the police was yet to issue a statement by the time preliminary reports emerged, officials in the video could be heard telling Khaira that the case was registered eight years ago under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in Jalalabad, Fazilka.
The manner in which Khaira was arrested drew condemnation from an array of Punjab's opposition parties. “If MLA’s are treated this way, what chance does the common man have?" Sangrur MP and SAD (Amritsar) leader Simranjit Singh Mann said, as he tweeted the video of the arrest.
Following Khaira's arrest, the war of words between the Congress and AAP – both constituents of the INDIA coalition – intensified as the former threw its weight behind the arrested legislator.
“The recent arrest of MLA Sukhpal Khaira smacks of political vendetta. It is an attempt to intimidate the opposition and is a ploy of the AAP government in Punjab to distract (people) from core issues. We stand strongly with Sukhpal Khaira and will take this fight to its logical conclusion," Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said.
Leader of Opposition and Congress veteran Partap Singh Bajwa also condemned the arrest, while visiting Khaira's family members and assuring them of the party's support.
The AAP rebutted the political vendetta charge, alleging that Khaira's involvement in drug business was “well-known".
"The law will take its own course. It is well-known that Sukhpal Khaira ji indulged in the drug business. He kept getting protection from earlier governments. Now, a proper investigation will be conducted," AAP MP Sushil Gupta said.
Khaira's son and advocate Mehtab Singh Khaira released a statement, claiming that his father is being targeted through “false implication", and the arrest was carried out on the direct orders of Bhagwant Mann.
“This is the same case which was quashed by the Supreme Court of India. The police have bypassed all procedures and even an order of the Supreme Court to gag the voice of a strong and vociferous leader. My father has told me to inform everyone that he is not scared of any false implication and will fight for Punjab till the very end," the statement noted.\
Bajwa said the arrest was “extremely deplorable", and the ruling AAP has stooped to “new lows" in the state politics.
Notably, the drugs case was registered in March 2015 in Jalalabad, and nine people were booked in the case and later convicted under the NDPS Act. Police had recovered 2 kg of heroin, 24 gold biscuits, one country-made pistol, a .315-bore pistol and two Pakistani SIM cards from them.
Khaira’s name cropped up later during the police probe. However, in 2017, the Supreme Court stayed the trial court proceedings against Khaira who was summoned as an additional accused in the matter. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in 2021 on the charge of money laundering linked to the 2015 drug case. He was granted bail in 2022.
In February 2023, the apex court quashed the summoning order against Khaira in the drugs case.
SAD (Amritsar), BJP's Sirsa lend support
SAD (Amritsar), led by Simranjeet Singh Mann, opposed the arrest of Khaira, saying that the action appears to be a result of “witch hunt" and “political vendetta".
“Political differences aside- Shiromani Akali Dal Amritsar condemns the arrest borne out of the witch hunt and political vendetta against Bholath MLA and a very respected @SukhpalKhaira Ji a fierce critic of @BhagwantMann and @AAPPunjab-led @PunjabGovtIndia. What promised to be a ‘badlav’ is turning out to be a horror show," the party tweeted.
The support to Congress' Khaira also came from Manjinder Singh Sirsa, a former MLA from Delhi of the rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
"I remember a statement by Arvind Kejriwal where he said, 'give me Police and see what I will be doing', so that he what is being done. If someone is accused of something, he must be summoned first and make him join the investigation and if he doesn't answer then arrest him...Punjab Police is being misused...action is being taken against opposition leaders because they are speaking against the govt," the BJP leader said.
