'Deadly and dangerous designs of AAP': Sukhbir Badal alleges 'witch-hunt' as Punjab govt withdraws Bikram Majithia's Z+ security

NEW DELHI: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab of targeting senior SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia by withdrawing his Z+ security cover.
Calling it a "witch-hunt," Badal alleged that the state government was trying to falsely implicate Majithia, his brother-in-law, in a drug case.

"Withdrawal of the entire Z+ security cover of Bikram Singh Majithia confirms beyond doubt the dangerous and deadly designs of the AAP government against the SAD leadership," Badal posted on X.

He further linked the decision to an alleged assassination attempt on his own life outside the Golden Temple in Amritsar last December. Badal claimed that the attack, carried out by Narain Singh Chaura, was part of a larger conspiracy and accused the government of complicity in the incident.
"Withdrawal of security to Majithia has to be seen with the government's complicity in the failed lethal attempt on my life—an attempt foiled only with divine intervention of Guru Sahiban," he said.
On December 6, Badal had a narrow escape when Chaura fired at him from close range at the Golden Temple entrance but missed. The attacker was overpowered by plainclothes policemen. On March 26, Chaura was granted bail by an Amritsar court.
Reacting to the security withdrawal, Majithia accused the state government of trying to silence him.
"When they failed in silencing my voice, they withdrew my security on the evening of March 29," he said.
Majithia also claimed that Punjab Police had formed a new Special Investigation Team (SIT), the fifth one so far, to probe the 2021 drug case against him. The new SIT is now led by Assistant Inspector General (Provisioning) Varun Sharma, replacing Deputy Inspector General H S Bhullar.
Majithia was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act on December 20, 2021, during the Congress-led Charanjit Singh Channi government. The case was based on a 2018 report by the anti-drug Special Task Force. The FIR was registered by the state Crime Branch at its Mohali police station.
Majithia had spent over five months in Patiala jail before securing bail from the Punjab and Haryana high court in August 2022.