Bikram Singh Majithia’s vigilance remand extended by four days
A Mohali court on Wednesday extended Bikram Singh Majithia’s remand by four days.
Arrested in a disproportionate assets case, Majithia was produced before a court in Mohali after his seven-day vigilance remand ended on Wednesday.
Heavy police deployment was made outside the Vigilance Bureau (VB) office and the district court complex in Mohali.
The special public prosecutor said an alleged benami property of around 400 acres had been found at Mashobra in Shimla district. He will be produced in court again on Sunday.
Apart from amassing wealth beyond his known sources of income, Majithia has been accused of laundering Rs 540 crore of drug money. Majithia, 49, was brought to the court in a cavalcade of vehicles amidst tight security around 10:40 a.m.
The SAD leader’s arrest has polarised state politics, with the opposition calling it a blatant misuse of power while the ruling AAP is justifying it as a decisive action against ‘big fish’ in their fight against the drug mafia. Meanwhile, SAD workers started gathering at Amb Sahib gurdwara to stage a protest against the ‘vendetta politics of the AAP government’ since morning. Several workers had started reaching Mohali from different parts of the state. Police detained a few workers on their way to Mohali to prevent any law and order situation.
The VB arrested Majithia on June 25 for his alleged involvement in laundering over Rs 540 crore of “drug money." He was sent to a 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 means, and it was allegedly facilitated by Majithia.
The FIR against Majithia stems from an 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.
Punjab