Chandigarh, January 16
Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia was questioned for around six hours after he appeared before a special investigation team of the Punjab Police in a drugs case in Patiala district on Tuesday.
The former minister was summoned by the SIT led by Deputy Inspector General (Patiala range) Harcharan Singh Bhullar.
Tight security arrangements were made around the police lines in Patiala in the wake of the appearance of Majithia before the SIT.
Several Akali workers gathered in support of Majithia. Speaking to reporters later, Majithia said a “false” case has been registered against him.
Hitting out at the Punjab chief minister, Majithia said Bhagwant Mann was trying to suppress the voice of those who “expose” and question him.
The senior Akali leader said he is a law abiding citizen and respects the law.
Majithia was previously questioned by the SIT, led by the then additional director general of police Mukhwinder Singh Chhina, on December 30 in connection with the drugs case. Before that he was grilled by the SIT on December 18.
The Punjab Police formed a new SIT under the chairmanship of Bhullar after Chhina retired on December 31.
Majithia was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act on December 20, 2021, when the then chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi-led Congress government was in power.
The action was taken on the basis of a 2018 report of the anti-drug Special Task Force. The FIR was registered by the state Crime Branch at its Mohali police station.
Majithia spent more than five months in Patiala jail and walked out of prison in August 2022 after the Punjab and Haryana High Court granted him bail.
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