SIT summons SAD leader Bikram Majithia, ex-cop Jagdish Bhola in drugs case

The development also follows the surrender and questioning of dismissed assistant inspector general of police Raj Jit Singh, who surfaced last week after having been absconding since 2023.

The police custody of Singh, who has been facing allegations of shielding drug smugglers and running targeted extortion racket from drug smugglers, has been extended till October 3. Police sources said that the notices to Majithia and Bhola may have been issued following his detailed interrogation.

When Bhola named Majithia

The notices revive a probe that began with Bhola’s arrest in November 2013 and later drew in Majithia’s name through statements recorded in 2014. Majithia, a former Punjab minister, has denied any role and called the case politically motivated.

The Punjab Police arrested Bhola, an Arjuna Award wrestler who had been dismissed from the force in 2012, after recoveries of synthetic drugs, precursor chemicals, cash and arms. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) later treated the associated money-laundering trail as far larger than the police’s initial estimate and associated a figure of about Rs 6,000 crore with the overall racket.

Bhola named Majithia while being produced in court after the arrest of associates Jagjit Singh Chahal and Maninder Singh ‘Bittu’ Aulakh. A 2018 anti-drug Special Task Force report recommended further investigation of Bhola and Aulakh’s claims against Majithia. Later, appearing before the Punjab Vigilance Bureau, the two criticised the initial ED investigation, terming it a piece of “political drama”.

FIR in 2021, no chargesheet filed

On December 20, 2021, during the Charanjit Singh Channi government, the police registered an FIR at the State Crime Police Station in SAS Nagar under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Majithia spent more than five months in custody in 2022 before the Punjab and Haryana High Court granted bail, noting the absence of direct recovery. He has since appeared before successive SITs more than a dozen times. No chargesheet has been filed in the 2021 NDPS case.

In June 2025, the Vigilance Bureau arrested Majithia in a disproportionate assets case after the SIT wrote that its NDPS inquiry had found an alleged trail of about Rs 540 crore routed through family-linked companies, suspected foreign entities and unexplained deposits. The bureau has spoken of assets far above declared income. Majithia’s lawyers say it recycles material already tested in bail hearings.

Bhola was convicted in 2019 and again in 2024. After nearly 12 years in prison, he was granted bail by the high court in May 2025 and released in early June, with conditions including a bond, monthly reporting and passport surrender. His appeals are pending.

One case, five SITs

The 2021 FIR has been handled by five SITs. The team now issuing summons was reconstituted on March 31, 2025. It is headed by Mohali Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Varun Sharma, with Tarn Taran SSP Abhimanyu Rana and Patiala SP (NRI/Detective) Gurbans Singh as members.

The earlier heads of SIT were AIG Balraj Singh (2021–22), IG Rahul S (2022), IG/ADGP M S Chhina (2023–24) and DIG H S Bhullar (2024–25).