Chandigarh: In a major blow to the Shiromani Akali Dal, which is a key ally in the NDA governmentat the Centre, the Enforcement Directorate has summoned Punjab Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia in a Rs 6,000 crore international synthetic drug scam. Bikram Singh Majithia is also the younger brother of Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal.
The lid came off the scam on January 5 when the Punjab Police arrested a Canadian national of Indian origin, Devinder Singh, whose questioning revealed that precursor chemicals Ketamine, Ephedrine and Pseudoephedrine were being diverted from pharmaceutical companies to those running the racket from Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad. Then these were being smuggled to Canada, where these chemicals were being processed into synthetic drugs by Chinese and Vietnamese nationals.
Majithia’s name first surfaced in the case when the alleged kingpin in the racket, Jagdish Singh Bhola, who was a dismissed Deputy Superintendent of Police and an international wrestler, claimed that the youth Akali leader and Damanvir Singh, who was the son of the then Punjab Jail Minister, Swaran Singh Phillaur, had assisted him in procuring synthetic chemicals and precursors from owners of pharmaceutical units in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab.
However, Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal has come out in Majithia’s defence and stated that it is not clear why the latter has been summoned. “Summoning a person does not mean that he is a culprit,” said Badal, reports CNN IBN.
Politicians from rival parties lost no time in slamming the minister. Punjab Congress president Partap Bajwa said, “ED can only interrogate him on money laundering, but there are more serious charges of abetting.” “I appeal to the PM, if you really want a thorough probe, either the CBI or a sitting judge should monitor the entire thing,” he added. Communist Party of India (CPI) national secretary Atul Anjan said, “This whole drug game is a joint venture of the Congress & the Akali Dal.” Senior lawyer HS Phoolka said, “It’s a very serious case, he must resign from the ministry at the earliest.”
