ED attaches Punjab MLA Sukhpal Khaira’s house in Chandigarh; he responds

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate has attached a house in Chandigarh worth ₹3.82 crore belonging to Punjab Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira in connection with its money laundering probe linked to a drug trafficking case, the agency said on Tuesday. The financial crimes probe agency said the property in Sector 5 of Chandigarh was attached on March 8 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, alleging that Khaira acquired and utilised the proceeds of the crime to the tune of ₹3.82 crore generated from an international drug syndicate operated by his close associate Gurdev Singh and his overseas-based associates. This is nothing but pure character assassination apart from the known fact that the BJP is misusing the ED to witch-hunt opposition leaders across India,” he said in a post on X. Khaira, 60, won the assembly election in 2017 from the Bholath assembly seat in Punjab’s Kapurthala district on an Aam Aadmi Party ticket. In its statement on Tuesday, ED said: “In lieu of protection or passage provided for smuggling of narcotic drugs by Sukhpal Singh Khaira, Gurdev Singh provided cash payments of ₹3.82 crore to Khaira and also funded his election campaigns out of the proceeds of crime derived from illegal drugs business.” The leader was arrested by ED during its investigation in November 2021 and a charge sheet was filed against him and Gurdev Singh before a special PMLA court in Mohali in January 2022.