Chandigarh, Jun 26 (PTI) A Mohali court on Thursday sent to a seven-day remand Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia, who was arrested by the Vigilance Bureau on Wednesday in an alleged disproportionate assets case involving Rs 540 crore of laundered “drug money”.
Before producing Majithia in court amid tight security arrangements, police detained several Akali supporters protesting against the arrest near the court complex.
Ferry Sofat, the counsel representing the bureau, told reporters the court has sent Majithia to seven-day vigilance remand, with the next date set on July 2.
The bureau demanded a 12-day remand of the accused.
Majithia is accused of not disclosing the “income” of Rs 540 crore and it was alleged that an amount of Rs 161 crore in Saraya Industries, in which Majithia was a shareholder, was unexplained.
Excess deposits of Rs 236 crore without disclosure or explanation in the company’s financial statements were also discovered, the bureau claimed.
Sofat alleged that the money was channelised through companies based in Cyprus, which is known as a tax haven, and Singapore.
Majithia’s wife Ganieve Kaur Majithia in 2012-13 started a business with a proprietor capital of Rs 1.57 crore of which Rs 56 lakh was profit.
But there was no detail about the remaining amount, the agency alleged.
Sofat is learnt to have argued in court that Majithia allegedly “threatened” the vigilance team when it raided his residence.
The bureau on Wednesday arrested Majithia, alleging he facilitated laundering over Rs 540 crore of “drug money”.
Majithia’s arrest came after a vigilance team raided his residence in Amritsar on Wednesday.
The bureau claimed preliminary investigations revealed that more than Rs 540 crore of drug money was laundered through several channels allegedly facilitated by Majithia.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) spokesperson Arshdeep Singh Kler on Thursday termed the FIR against Majithia “bogus”, and said the former minister was being targeted for raising people’s issues and being vocal against the AAP government.
The SAD further claimed that the AAP government had “violated” the law by registering a DA case against Majithia without holding either a preliminary or regular probe and accused it indulging in “political vendetta to gag” the former minister.
Senior leaders Balwinder Singh Bhundar, Maheshinder Singh Grewal and Dr Daljit Singh Cheema also accused the AAP government of misleading Punjabis and even committing contempt of court by stating that Majithia was arrested in a Rs 540 crore drug case.
“This is not only absurd but a bundle of lies for which the AAP leaders will be held accountable”, Grewal said, demanding from the government to tell “why it has not released a single complaint with regard to the Rs 540 crore figure it concocted either in the FIR or otherwise”.
He also referred to Majithia being granted bail by the high court in the drug case registered against him by the previous Congress government.
Cheema said all the allegations mentioned in the new case against Majithia were placed before the Supreme Court recently while seeking cancellation of bail given to the Akali leader in the drug case.
“The Supreme Court did not take cognisance of the allegations and now they have been recycled and turned into a new case,” he claimed.
Majithia, the brother-in-law of SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, is facing a probe in a 2021 drugs case.
The fresh FIR of disproportionate assets stems from the ongoing investigation by a special investigation team into the 2021 drug case.
A vigilance spokesperson said a probe by the SIT and the bureau revealed “massive laundering of drug money facilitated by Majithia”.
It included huge unaccounted cash worth Rs 161 crore deposited in bank accounts of companies controlled by Majithia, channelisation of Rs 141 crore through suspected foreign entities, excess deposition of Rs 236 crore without disclosure or explanation in company financial statements, and acquisition of movable and immovable assets by Majithia without any legitimate sources of income.
The bureau registered the case based on a report of the SIT, claiming the evidence pointed to “massive laundering of drug money by Majithia”. PTI CHS AMK AMK
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