Akali leader Bikram Majithia arrested in DA case after raid at his Amritsar home

    Chandigarh, Jun 25 (PTI) The Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Wednesday arrested senior Akali leader and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia after conducting a raid at his residence in Amritsar in a disproportionate assets case registered against him, sources said.
    The bureau seized 29 mobile phones, four laptops, two iPads, eight diaries and some documents from Majithia's residence, they said.
    Majithia, who is the brother-in-law of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, is already facing probe in a 2021 drugs case.
    After conducting the raid, the vigilance team from Mohali faced protests by Majithia and his wife and Akali MLA Ganieve Kaur Majithia, who accused the officers of barging into the house in Green Avenue on Wednesday morning.
    Sukhbir Badal, his wife and former Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, and many senior Akali leaders also lashed out at the AAP government in Punjab over the raid at the residence of Majithia, calling it a "political vendetta".
    A similar raid was conducted at the couple's Chandigarh residence as well, the sources said.
    Ganieve Kaur told reporters in Amritsar, "We will continue to fight. People will stand with Majithia."
    The raid was led by Swarandeep Singh, AIG, Flying Squad, Vigilance Bureau, Mohali, who was reinstated last month after a suspension.
    As the news of the raid spread on social media, Akali leaders and supporters headed towards Majithia's residence and raised slogans against the Bhagwant Mann government.
    However, a heavy police force was deployed on the road leading to Majithia's house, with no one allowed to pass the barricades.
    As a team of officers entered Majithia's house, Ganieve Kaur asked them, "What is happening? I want to know what is going on... How did you barge into my house without my knowledge?"
    Majithia also said that the vigilance officers "barged" into his house, "terrorising" his children.
    The former minister could be heard arguing with a DSP-rank vigilance officer, expressing his dismay over the manner in which they entered his house.
    "You have forced your way through. This is not the way. Do not come and threaten people at my house... You are barging into my house," Majithia told the vigilance team.
    Majithia also questioned why the officers were not in uniform, to which one of them replied that vigilance officers remain in civil dress.
    Majithia was even seen interrupting the DSP-rank officer when he asked about the identity of a man standing in a room, telling him that he won't get affected by the government's "highhandedness".
    In response, the officer asked Majithia not to lecture him as he sought the Akali leader's cooperation.
    The officer also objected to Majithia filming the raid.
    In a video, Majithia lashed out at the Mann government, alleging that the AAP was resorting to such tactics to suppress the voice of the opposition leaders.
    Claiming that the vigilance department lodged a fresh FIR on Tuesday night, Majithia said, "They forcefully entered my house. If an FIR has been lodged, we are submitted to the law. If they wanted to register an FIR in a DA (disproportionate assets) case, they could have given a notice. It is very clear that they (AAP) are rattled."
    Majithia also claimed a vigilance team led by an SSP conducted the raid.
    "Bhagwant Mann ji, understand this... No matter how many FIRs you register, I will not be afraid nor your government can suppress my voice," Majithia said.
    "I have always talked about the issues facing Punjab and will continue to do so," he added.
    Before being taken into custody, Majithia met his two children and wife.
    An SIT of Punjab Police is already probing a 2021 drugs case against Majithia, in which the Akali leader has been summoned and questioned many times.
    Majithia was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act on December 20, 2021, when a Congress government was in power in Punjab, led by Charanjit Singh Channi.
    The Akali leader spent more than five months in Patiala jail before walking out of prison in August 2022 after the Punjab and Haryana High Court granted him bail.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)