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Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal was taken into preventive custody along with several party workers in Mohali on Wednesday. The SAD chief and party workers had planned to march to the district court complex to show support for senior SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia, who has been arrested in a disproportionate assets case.

Majithia is scheduled to appear before the Mohali court as his seven-day vigilance remand ends. In anticipation, police presence was significantly ramped up outside both the Vigilance Bureau office and the court complex in Mohali. 

 

Badal, who was detained near Gurdwara Amb Sahib, strongly criticised the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government, accusing it of creating an atmosphere of “undeclared emergency” in Punjab. He said SAD workers were merely exercising their democratic right to stand in solidarity with a fellow party leader.

 

“Bhagwant Mann has imposed an undeclared emergency in Punjab. Akali workers proceeding to Mohali today for expressing solidarity with Bikram Singh Majithia, who has been framed in a false case by the Aam Aadmi Party government, are being detained at their houses and even being stopped at nakas (police checkpoints) put up on all major roads. Such repressive acts smack of cowardice. It is clear that chief minister @BhagwantMann is rattled by the outpouring of support for Bikram,” Badal posted on X.

 

“I want to make it clear that Akali Dal and its workers will not be deterred by such repressive acts. In the past also the Akalis have countered repression with people’s movements. Now also we will teach a befitting lesson to the corrupt and dictatorial @AamAadmiParty regime with the support of Punjabis,” he said.

 

According to the Shiromani Akali Dal, several of its workers from Amritsar, Beas, and other parts of the state have been detained at their homes to prevent them from participating in the solidarity march.

 

SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia was arrested by the Vigilance Bureau (VB) on June 25 in connection with allegations of laundering over ₹540 crore in drug money. A day later, on June 26, a Mohali court sent him to seven-day vigilance remand.

 

The FIR against Majithia is based on preliminary findings, where the VB claims the drug money was routed through multiple channels, with Majithia allegedly playing a key role. This case is part of a broader investigation by a Punjab Police special investigation team, linked to the 2021 drug case.

 

Majithia had previously been booked under the NDPS Act in 2021, following a 2018 report by the anti-drug special task force. He was imprisoned in Patiala for over five months and was released in August 2022 after being granted bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.