17 convicted, former Punjab DSP Jagdish Bhola awarded 10-year jail in drug case

Mohali, July 30

A special PMLA court today convicted all 17 accused in the 2013 Bhola drug case. While Jagdish Bhola, a former wrestler-turned-Punjab DSP, was sentenced to 10-year imprisonment, the other accused got jail terms ranging from three to 10 years.

Wrestler-turned-drug lord

• Bhola was once hailed as the “King Kong” of Indian wrestling. He carved his name in the annals of the Indian sports history when he won the silver medal in the 1991 Asian Wrestling Championship. He was conferred the Arjuna Award. He was appointed a DSP by Punjab.
• Bhola features among the top drug smugglers of the country. He owned 35 acres of land, several bungalows and luxury cars, and moved with armed private guards. All his property and vehicles have been confiscated.

As many as 23 accused were covered in the order, of whom two are proclaimed offenders, while four died during the trial. The investigation, carried out under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, was initiated by the ED in 2013 on the basis of eight FIRs registered in Punjab. Property worth Rs 95 crore have been provisionally attached.

Among the accused, Bhola, Manpreet Singh, Sukhraj Singh, Maninder Singh, Sukhjit Singh, Avtar Singh, alias Tari, and Devinder Singh, alias Happy, were sentenced to 10-year jail. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on Bhola and Avtar.

Dalip Singh Mann, father-in-law of Bhola, got three-year jail along with a fine of Rs 10,000. Gurpreet Kaur (wife of Bhola), Sandeep Kaur (wife of Tari), Jagminder Kaur Aulakh, Gurmeet Kaur and Amarjit Kaur were sentenced to three-year imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 10,000. Gurdeep Singh Manchanda, Subhash Bajaj, Sunil Bajaj and Ankur Bajaj were sentenced to five-year imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 30,000.

It is the biggest conviction order in favour of the ED in terms of the number of accused convicted in a single case.

Asked if there was any involvement of politicians in the case, Former ED Deputy Director Niranjan Singh said, “During the investigation, the government transferred me to Kolkata. It may have been done due to political reasons.”