SAD leader Bikram Majithia’s judicial custody extended till August 14

A Mohali court on Saturday extended the judicial custody of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia, who was arrested in a disproportionate assets case, till August 14.

Majithia, who is lodged in New Nabha jail in Patiala, was produced before the court through video conferencing.

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau had arrested the Shiromani Akali Dal leader on June 25. He was sent to judicial custody on July 6 and his remand was later extended on July 18.

According to the FIR registered by the Vigilance Bureau, its preliminary investigation has revealed that more than Rs 540 crore worth of “drug money” was laundered in several ways and Majithia had allegedly facilitated it.

The Vigilance Bureau’s FIR against Majithia stemmed from an investigation being carried out by a Punjab Police Special Investigation Team into a 2021 drug case.

In 2021, Majithia was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, on the basis of a 2018 report of the anti-drug Special Task Force.

Majithia had 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. —with PTI