Punjab Congress President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring has strongly criticized the Punjab Police’s detention of Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira, labeling it as a “lawless state of affairs.” In an early morning operation on Thursday, a team from the Punjab Police arrived at Khaira’s residence to conduct a search related to a 2015 case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in Jalalabad, Fazilka.
Warring expressed his condemnation of the arrest, stating that there is no substance to the case, as the Supreme Court has already put the proceedings on hold and nullified them. He also mentioned that Congress President Kharge had urged them to support Khaira and emphasized the concerns of Khaira’s family regarding his safety.
Taking to social media platform X (formerly Twitter), the President of the Punjab Congress accused the Punjab government of using Khaira’s arrest as a diversion from pressing issues. He posted, “The recent arrest of Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira ji smacks of Political Vendetta, it is an attempt to intimidate the opposition and is a ploy of the Punjab government to distract from core issues. We stand strongly with Sukhpal Khaira and will take this fight to its logical conclusion.”
Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa also denounced the AAP-led Punjab government for the detention of Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira. He highlighted the lack of an arrest warrant during Khaira’s early morning arrest and assured all Punjab Congress members of their unwavering support for Khaira’s release.
Bajwa also criticized Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, suggesting that governments are not permanent, and he criticized the timing of the arrest on the birth anniversary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh.
In response, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) argued that the Punjab government was merely following legal procedures and claimed that Khaira’s involvement in the drug trade was well-known. AAP MP Sushil Gupta asserted that a thorough investigation would be conducted into Khaira’s actions.
Sukhpal Singh Khaira’s detention by the Punjab police is linked to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Khaira was live-streaming on Facebook when police officers raided his house, and the video captured his confrontation with them. He can be seen in the video chanting “Punjab Sarkar murdabad” (Down with the Punjab government) as he is detained.
The charges against Khaira stem from two cases, one involving a cross-border drug smuggling network in Fazilka and the other related to a fake passport racket in Delhi. Khaira is accused of having close ties with Gurdev Singh, the leader of the Fazilka drug smuggling operation, and is alleged to have provided him shelter and benefited financially from drug traffickers.
Sukhpal Khaira represents Bholath in Kapurthala, Punjab, and serves as the Chairman of All India Kisan Congress.
This arrest is expected to further strain the relations between AAP and the Congress, which have joined forces to form the INDIA alliance at the national level.
