Punjab Congress backs Sukhpal Khaira, alleges vendetta after ED attaches UT house

The Punjab Congress on Wednesday accused the BJP-led Centre of vendetta politics a day after the Enforcement Directorate attached the house of Bholath MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira in Chandigarh as part of a probe into a drug trafficking-linked money laundering case.

The ED said it took the action after finding that Khaira had acquired and utilised ₹3.82 crore generated from an international drug syndicate operated by former chairman of the Dhilwan market committee, Gurdev Singh, the main accused, and other overseas-based associates.

Khaira claimed the ED move was part of the BJP strategy to intimidate the opposition. “Anyone who stands up against the establishment or has the courage to speak the truth will have to pay a price in the form of criminal cases and jails. We won’t be cowed down,” he said.

Backing him, Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said the ED was a political tool used by the BJP to target opponents. “From senior leaders like (AICC Punjab affairs in-charge and former Chhattisgarh CM) Bhupesh Baghel to Khaira, the BJP’s vendetta politics is clear. Attaching Khaira ji’s decades-old house is yet another desperate move. We stand firmly with our leaders and won’t bow to such pressure,” Warring said.

Leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa claimed that the BJP was scared of the “upward graph” of the Congress in Punjab. “First they targeted Baghel and now my colleague Khaira on frivolous grounds. These actions won’t deter us. We will fight back and emerge stronger,” Bajwa said.

Jalandhar MP and former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Jalandhar Cantt MLA Pargat Singh also termed the ED action as vendetta.

Drug money used to fund poll campaign: ED

Issuing a detailed statement on Wednesday, the ED said that it has provisionally attached proceeds of the crime to the extent of ₹3.82 crore in the form of an immovable property, house number 6 in Sector 5, Chandigarh, belonging to Khaira under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

“In lieu of protection/passage provided for smuggling narcotic drugs, Gurdev Singh made payments of ₹3.82 crore to Khaira and also funded his election campaigns out of the proceeds,” the ED said.

“From April 1, 2014, to March 31, 2020, Khaira and his family spent ₹6.61 crore, which was ₹3.82 crore more than their known sources of income. This was revealed from handwritten notebooks seized after searches in March 2021,” the ED said.

Khaira was arrested by the ED in November 2021 and was granted bail by the Punjab and Haryana high court on January 27, 2022. The Supreme Court on January 15, 2025, dismissed the ED’s petition seeking cancellation of bail. A chargesheet was filed against Khaira and Gurdev before a special PMLA court in Mohali in October 2023.