Sukhpal Khaira drugs case: Punjab Police reveals key details about arrested Congress neta

After Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira was sent to remand on Thursday, September 28 in connection with a 2015 drugs smuggling case, Republic TV has accessed exclusive details of the Punjab police's investigation.

The police investigation has revealed that Sukhpal Khaira was in touch with the drug convict Gurdev Singh as a number of calls were exchanged between them. Gurdev Singh was a former sarpanch and a very close associate of the MLA. It has also come to the fore that Khaira built his property from the drug money. Therefore, the cops have sought the property details and financial transactions between Khaira and drug case convicts. The Punjab police have asked for Khaira's old and present passport in a bid to trace his travel history as the drug racket is linked to Pakistan as well as the UK. 

Amid the fiasco, Punjab Congress state unit chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and LoP Punjab Partap Singh Bajwa and other top leaders held a crucial meeting in Chandigarh. Defending Khaira, former minister Pargat Singh stated that the party leaders will be holding a protest in Fazilka on Friday, September 29 in connection with the arrest.  

Khaira was arrested by Punjab Police earlier in the day after a team led by Superintendent of Police (SP) Manjeet Singh raided his Chandigarh residence around 6 am. The MLA's son went live on Facebook showing that a team of Punjab Police had reached his residence to apprehend the MLA. The clip shows Khaira arguing with the cops and asking them to show an arrest warrant. The police tell him that he is being arrested in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act case. 

After being apprehended, Sukhpal Singh Khaira accused the AAP of doing 'badla ki rajneeti' (vendetta politics). He alleged that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has become “thirsty for his blood” and is capable of “eliminating him". "Bhagwant Mann has become thirsty for my blood. I will not be surprised if he gets me physically eliminated as well. I sense something very very dangerous. Bhagwant Mann is not able to tolerate Congress in Punjab. AAP has done this to marginalise Congress in the state. But the truth will prevail,” he said.

What is the case?

Sources privy to the development said that a special investigation team led by Deputy Inspector General of Police Swapan Sharma was constituted in April 2023 and Khaira was arrested based on its probe into the 2015 case. In March 2015, the drugs case was registered at Jalalabad in Fazilka and nine people, including a close aide of Khaira, were booked and later convicted under the NDPS Act.

Police had recovered 2kg heroin, 24 gold biscuits, one country-made pistol, a .315-bore pistol and two Pakistani SIM cards from them. Khaira's name emerged later during the police investigation. 

However, in 2017, the Supreme Court stayed the trial court proceedings against the Congress leader who was summoned as an additional accused in the matter. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in 2021 on the charge of money laundering linked to the 2015 drugs case. He was granted bail in 2022. In February 2023, the apex court quashed the summoning order against Khaira in the 2015 drugs case.