Ex-security officer of Punjab Congress MLA held in drug trafficking case

Chandigarh, Aug 9 (IANS) In a major breakthrough in a high-profile drug trafficking case dated to 2015, one of the main accused and former Personal Security Officer (PSO) of Congress legislator Sukhpal Singh Khaira has been arrested by the Punjab Police.

Based on the police’s information and intelligence input, the CISF surveillance team arrested PSO Joga Singh from the Delhi Airport. Punjab Police had been keeping a close watch on his activities for a long time and was in constant touch with central agencies.

Aam Aadmi Party leader Baltej Pannu said his arrest will bring many secrets to light, and the police will be able to get information about all the suspicious events.

He said that every aspect related to the case will be thoroughly investigated, and action will be taken against all those involved in the crime. Pannu said that Joga Singh was attempting to flee from India.

A case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act has been registered against him in Fazilka town. He alleged that at that time, the drug-related calls that Sukhpal Khaira used to receive were mainly attended to by Joga Singh.

“Therefore, with his arrest, the investigation will move forward and many hidden facts will come to light,” Pannu said in a statement. It was in connection with the NDPS case related to Joga Singh that the name of Congress leader and former AAP leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira had surfaced.

He has been arrested twice in this case so far. At present, he is out on bail. In this case, Fazilka Police had arrested nine people. At that time, the convicts were found in possession of 2 kg of heroin, 24 gold biscuits, and two Pakistani SIM cards.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court in January last year granted bail to Sukhpal Singh Khaira, a legislator from the Bholath constituency in Kapurthala district, in connection with the 2015 drugs case.

In September 2023, the Punjab Police arrested him following a raid by police officials at his bungalow in Chandigarh.

--IANS

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