DW BUREAU / CHANDIGARH

Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Saturday said police have arrested Joga Singh, former personal security officer of Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira, in a 2015 drug case. He said Joga had been absconding after being named as an accused on September 28, 2023, and despite numerous police raids, he remained at large.

His bail was denied by the Fazilka session court in October 2023 and thereafter by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in January 2024, said Cheema. Joga was detained by the immigration authorities at the New Delhi airport as he was attempting to flee to Australia, said the finance minister.

He was caught as a look-out circular (LoC) was active against him since November 2023.

Joga was produced before a court in Jalalabad, which granted a five-day police remand.

Cheema alleged that Joga played a key role in facilitating communication between Khaira and siblings Gurdev Singh and his UK-based sister, Charanjit Kaur. Gurdev was one of the accused who was convicted in the drugs case.

"Joga Singh used his mobile phone to arrange these calls while Gurdev Singh was a fugitive. The call detail analysis showed multiple instances where Joga Singh and Gurdev Singh were at the same location," said Cheema.

The drugs case was registered in March 2015 at Jalalabad in Fazilka. Nine people were booked in the case and later convicted under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Police had recovered 2 kg heroin, 24 gold biscuits, one country-made pistol, .315-bore pistol and two Pakistani SIM cards were recovered from them. Later, the name of Khaira cropped up during the police probe.

Khaira was arrested by the police in connection with the case in September 2023. The Congress MLA was, however, granted bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the drug case in January 2024. In the same month, the Supreme Court upheld the bail decision.

Meanwhile, Khaira on Saturday lashed out at the AAP government, accusing it of "orchestrating malicious and baseless propaganda" against him concerning the arrest of his former PSO in the drugs case.

"This misinformation campaign, primarily fuelled by certain AAP leaders, is a deliberate attempt to tarnish my reputation and mislead the public," said Khaira in a statement.

"The legal battle surrounding this case has a complex history in which the Punjab and Haryana High Court granted me bail on January 4, 2024. The Supreme Court, on January 18, 2024, upheld this bail decision, rejecting an appeal by the Punjab government and AAP, further reinforcing the lack of substantive evidence against me," he said.

He had called his arrest politically motivated.

Meanwhile, FM Cheema said since the start of the anti-drug drive on March 1, a total of 16,062 cases have been registered, leading to the arrest of 25,177 individuals.

Additionally, 178 illegal properties belonging to drug smugglers have been demolished. Major seizures include 1,044 kg of heroin, 21,309 kg of poppy husk, 365 kg of opium, and nearly 3.2 million tablets, capsules, and pills, he said.

(editor@dailyworld.in)