Former Punjab minister Jagdish Garcha, family drugged in house robbery in Ludhiana

Ludhiana, September 18

Former Akali minister Jagdish Singh Garcha, his wife and sister along with their domestic help were found unconscious at his residence in a suspected house robbery at Maharaja Ranjit Singh Nagar here.

According to police, the house was ransacked and some valuables were missing. The police suspect the role of a male domestic help, who was hired around three months back without proper police verification, as he has been missing after the incident. It is alleged that he served food laced with sedatives on Sunday night to the house inmates and fled with cash and jewellery.

Garcha, his wife, his sister and the domestic help were found unconscious on Monday morning, the police said. Nobody from the family answered the doorbell in the morning which led to suspicion, said a family friend.

After the police arrived, they found the family members unconscious and rushed them to a nearby hospital.

Ludhiana Police Commissioner Mandeep Singh Sidhu said that the family had employed the male domestic help around three months back and had not got his police verification done. No photograph is available with the members of the family, said the commissioner.

Police said a case has been registered and further investigation is underway.

Garcha has been a two-time MLA from Kila Raipur seat. He was a minister in the Akali government.

He was once a close confidant of former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal. However, he left the Shiromani Akali Dal in 2020.