Sukhbir Badal, SAD leaders going to Mohali to express solidarity with Bikram Majithia detained

Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday  accused the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government of imposing an "undeclared emergency" in Punjab.

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The SAD leader was detained before reaching Mohali as party leader Bikram Singh Majithia appeared in the court.

SP (Rural) escorted him to a police station in a bus. Badal said he was going to Amb Sahib gurdwara to pay obeisance.

Badal criticised Arvind Kejriwal for killing democratic rights of Punjabis.

He claimed several Akali workers who were going to Mohali to express solidarity with Majithia, who has been arrested in a disproportionate assets case, have been detained by police.

According to the party, many of its workers in Amritsar, Beas and other places have been "detained" at their residences.

Majithia will be produced in a Mohali court on Wednesday as his seven-day vigilance remand comes to an end. Heavy police deployment has been made outside the Vigilance Bureau (VB) office and the district court complex in Mohali.

Bhagwant Mann has imposed an UNDECLARED EMERGENCY in Punjab.

Akali workers proceeding to Mohali today for expressing solidarity with S Bikram Singh Majithia, who has been framed in a false case by the Aam Aadmi Party govt, are being detained at their houses & even being stopped…

— Sukhbir Singh Badal (@officeofssbadal) July 2, 2025

"Bhagwant Mann has imposed an UNDECLARED EMERGENCY in Punjab. Akali workers proceeding to Mohali today for expressing solidarity with S Bikram Singh Majithia, who has been framed in a false case by the Aam Aadmi Party govt, are being detained at their houses & even being stopped at 'nakas' put up on all major roads. Such repressive acts smack of cowardice. It is clear that chief minister @BhagwantMann is rattled by the outpouring of support for Bikram," Badal said in a post on X.

"I want to make it clear - the @Akali_Dal_ & its workers will not be deterred by such repressive acts. In the past also Akalis have countered repression with peoples' movements. Now also we will teach a befitting lesson to the corrupt and dictatorial @AamAadmiParty regime with the support of Punjabis," he said.

In Ludhiana, talking to The Tribune, senior SAD leader Maheshinder Singh Grewal said at 8 am, SHO Model Town along with two other cops came for his “house arrest”.

“I told them that I was not going anywhere and I am at home only, still they sat with my son on the porch area but I was able to escape to be with our leaders at Mohali. I did not take my own vehicle, got a taxi booked and skipped while they were still sitting at my place,” said Grewal, adding that these kinds of orders by the AAP government showed the suppression of democratic rights of an individual.

He added many other leaders, including Surinder Singh, Sarabjit Singh Chapa, Inderjit Singh Ruby, Parveen Bharti and Dr Kamaljit Singh, have reached Mohali.

Former SAD councilor Jagbir Singh Sokhi said that he alongwith several supporters and leaders were going to Mohali in five vehicles. On being asked, what would they do, Sokhi said that it depends on the ruling government what they want? “Our action depends on theirs. If they wish to arrest us, we are ready for that too but at this hour, we will stand by our leaders,” said Sokhi.

The leaders from Ludhiana said that they were not allowed to go where the court hearing of Majithia was scheduled. “They have cordoned off the entire area, which shows that the AAP government is too scared of SAD. Now we are going to be with the party president Sukhbir Singh Badal, where he has been detained by the police”, said Grewal.

The VB arrested Majithia on June 25 for his alleged involvement in laundering over Rs 540 crore of "drug money". He was sent to seven-day vigilance remand on June 26 by a Mohali court.

In the FIR registered against Majithia, the VB claimed that preliminary investigations revealed that more than Rs 540 crore of "drug money" was laundered through several ways and it was allegedly facilitated by Majithia.

The FIR against Majithia stems from an ongoing investigation being conducted by a Punjab Police Special Investigation Team into the 2021 drugs case.

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

Majithia spent more than five months in Patiala jail in the case. He walked out of prison in August 2022 after the Punjab and Haryana High Court granted him bail.