Punjab Police on Saturday arrested a former personal security officer (PSO) of Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira from Indira Gandhi International Airport in connection with a drug case registered in 2015 in which Khaira was also nominated. An assistant sub-inspector (ASI) with Punjab Police, Joga Singh had been absconding since being nominated as an accused on September 28, 2023. His bail plea was rejected by the sessions court in Fazilka in October 2023 and then by the high court in January 2024, but he remained at large.
Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira
Joga Singh was detained by immigration authorities at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi while attempting to flee to Australia due to a look-out circular (LoC) issued by the special investigation team (SIT) in November 2023.
He was taken on transit remand and produced before a court in Jalalabad, which granted police his five-day remand.
The case
The case was first registered in March 2015 by the Fazilka police after 2-kg heroin, 24 gold biscuits, pistols, Pakistani SIM cards and a mobile phone besides a firearm were seized and nine people—including Gurdev Singh, an alleged close aide of Khaira—were arrested. During the investigation, MLA Khaira’s name surfaced due to frequent phone calls with Singh. Khaira, the three-time Congress MLA from Bholath, was arrested in 2023 from his Chandigarh residence following a probe by the special investigation team (SIT) led by then Jalandhar DIG and now Ludhiana police commissioner Swapan Sharma. He was granted bail by the Punjab and Haryana high court.
The former PSO was nominated after he did not join the investigation being conducted by the SIT.
Punjab finance minister and chairman of the ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh’ Cabinet Subcommittee, Harpal Singh Cheema, said the arrest of Joga Singh is a significant step toward justice for the victims of the 2015 Gurdev Singh Debi drug racket.
Addressing a press conference, Cheema said the decade-long delay in the case was due to the alleged involvement of those who had political connections with the Shiromani Akali Dal and Congress leadership.
The finance minister further said that Joga Singh played a key role in facilitating communication between Sukhpal Singh Khaira and both Gurdev Singh, who has been convicted in this case, and Gurdev’s UK-based sister Charanjit Kaur.
The minister said Joga Singh used his mobile phone to arrange these calls while Gurdev Singh was a fugitive. The minister further added that call detail analysis showed multiple instances where Joga Singh and Gurdev Singh were at the same location, even in Khaira’s absence.
Government claims misleading: Khaira
Khaira termed Cheema’s allegations a malicious and baseless propaganda concerning the arrest of his former PSO Joga Singh. “This misinformation campaign, primarily fueled by certain AAP leaders, is a deliberate attempt to tarnish my reputation and mislead the public. I stand firm in my commitment to truth and justice. The recent judicial interventions by the Supreme Court provide irrefutable evidence of my stance,” said Khaira.
“The Supreme Court, in its order dated April 10, 2024, stayed all proceedings related to the NDPS case involving me until the next hearing. The court, presided over by Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal, had directed the state not to proceed further with the trial before the trial court. This stay order dismantles any narrative suggesting ongoing culpability or urgency in the case,” said Khaira.
“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, with Justice Anoop Chitkara recording a prima facie satisfaction that I was not guilty. The Supreme Court, on January 18, 2024, upheld the bail decision, rejecting an appeal by the Punjab government and AAP, further reinforcing the lack of substantive evidence against me,” said Khaira.
He said the “smear” campaign appears to be a continuation of “political vendetta”. “The timing of Joga Singh’s arrest at Delhi airport, as reported on August 9, and the subsequent amplification of false narratives suggest a coordinated effort to deflect attention from governance issues,” he said.