Khaira's Chandigarh house attached in drugs case

In fresh trouble for Bholath Congress MLA Sukhpal Khaira, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached his Sector-5 house in Chandigarh in a drug trafficking-linked money laundering case.

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The house has been attached as the proceeds of crime (POC). The ED investigation had revealed that Khaira had utilised the proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs. 3.82 crore generated from an international drug syndicate operated by an accused, Gurdev Singh, and his overseas-based associates. "In lieu of protection or passage provided for smuggling of narcotic drugs by Khaira, Gurdev Singh provided Rs 3.82 crore to Khaira and also funded his election campaigns out of the proceeds derived from drugs business," a release of the ED reads. 

Gurdev Singh, served as the Chairman of the Market Committee, Dhilwan, and was a close associate of Khaira. During the period April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2020, Khaira and his family members have made expenses to the tune of Rs. 6.61 crore. "Further, an unaccounted expenditure to the tune of Rs. 3.82 crore more than their known sources of income were identified. The same was revealed from handwritten notebooks seized from the searches conducted on March 9 and 10, 2021," the ED note mentions.

Khaira was arrested on November 11, 2021 under Section 19 of PMLA and the prosecution complaint was filed before the PMLA Court, Mohali, on January 6, 2022 against him and Gurdev Singh. The charges had been framed by the PMLA court on October 17, 2023.

Reacting to the development, Khaira said: "I have received no notice about the attachment of my Chandigarh house from the ED or any other government source. I should have been notified instead of the news being released to media. This is nothing but pure character assassination apart from the known fact that the BJP is misusing ED to witch hunt opposition leaders across India."

Khaira is being linked to 2015 case of Fazilka in which searches were carried out and investigation conducted by the Punjab Police. In the case, a total of 1.8 kg of heroin, one .315 bore pistol, two live cartridges, two Pakistani SIMs, one .32 bore revolver and 24 live cartridges and one blank cartridge, 24 gold biscuits and mobile phones were recovered. Out of this, 350 g heroin, one Pakistani SIM, one .32 bore Webley Scot made in England revolver, 24 live cartridges, one empty cartridge and 24 gold biscuits totally weighing 333 g were recovered from Gurdev Singh. The court in Fazilka had convicted Gurdev Singh and eight others under various Sections of the NDPS Act on October 31, 2017.