A Punjab Vigilance team Monday took senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia to Mashobra, near Shimla, in Himachal Pradesh to verify certain properties owned by the Majithia family. In an early morning development, Majithia was taken to Himachal Pradesh in a convoy of Vigilance Bureau vehicles and the team returned to Punjab after conducting a day-long visit to the properties in Mashobra. Vigilance sources said that the visit was in connection with the disproportionate assets case registered against Majithia and to ascertain the means through which these properties were acquired. The election affidavit submitted by Majithia during 2022 Assembly polls in Punjab includes two properties in Mashobra by his wife Ganieve Kaur. Majithia had unsuccessfully contested the February 2022 poll from Amritsar North as a SAD candidate. The election affidavit mentions two houses owned by Ganieve Kaur in village Mohal, Purani Kotli, Shimla district worth Rs 1.20 crore as in October 2021. Meanwhile, Maninder Singh Aulakh, alias Bittu Aulakh, and Jagjit Singh Chahal, who had earlier faced cases pertaining to the NDPS Act and were later acquitted, Monday appeared before the Vigilance Bureau and recorded their statements. Speaking to the media after meeting the vigilance officials, both Aulakh and Chahal said that they have high hopes that the present case against Majithia would reach a positive conclusion because of the “sincerity of the government” and the attitude of the vigilance officials. “Whatever questions we were asked, we have answered to the best of our knowledge. This is a DA case, we gave answers as per information available with us. They wanted to know if there were any financial transactions with us or had some benami property. We have given information. Main issue is of drugs and we have told them that when in 2013 when this issue first arose, then had the police done proper investigation at the time, things would have been different,” said Aulakh. He added that the duo had demanded a CBI inquiry at the time. “A corrupt police officer involved in the case should be interrogated. These people destroyed Punjab. My mother and Chahal’s parents died because of the trauma of drug charges against us. We were eventually acquitted after spending six and a half years in jail. We still say you can shoot us in the middle of a chowk if we have ever done drug trade. We have given statement about that corrupt police officer to vigilance today. It should be investigated how he acquired gas stations and subway outlets in USA,” said Aulakh. Chahal said they have hopes that the present vigilance case will reach some logical conclusion and that till now whatever happened was mere drama. “There have been many SITs formed to date and all have called us many times but nothing happened. Only politics took place and now we feel that it will reach fruition due to government’s sincerity,” he said.
