The head and two members of the SIT probing the drug smuggling case involving senior Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former minister Bikram Majithia have been changed. Former SIT member AIG (Provisioning) Varun Sharma has been appointed as the new chairman. He will replace DIG HS Bhullar.
Apart from this, Tarn Taran SSP Abhimanyu Rana and SP (NRI), Patiala, Gurbans Singh Bains have been made members of the SIT. This is the fifth time that the SIT has been changed. Earlier, the SIT was always headed by an officer of DIG or higher rank. This is the first time that the command of the SIT has been handed over to an AIG rank officer.
The case was registered during the Congress government
A case was registered against Bikram Singh Majithia in December 2021 during the tenure of the Congress government just before the assembly elections. Majithia also had to go to jail in this case. The first SIT in this case was led by AIG Balraj Singh. But, after the Aam Aadmi Party government came to power, IG Rahul S was made the SIT chief in place of Balraj Singh.
However, the SIT failed to file a chargesheet against Majithia. Subsequently, in May 2023, IGP (Patiala Range) MS Chhina was appointed the SIT chief in place of DIG-cum-Vigilance Bureau Director Rahul S.
The other members remained the same, including then AIG Ranjit Singh Dhillon, DSP (STF, Rupnagar) Raghbir Singh and DSP (Kharar-2) Amarpreet Singh. At the same time, IG Gursharan Singh Sandhu was given the responsibility to monitor the progress of the investigation team.
Meanwhile, when Chhina was promoted to the post of Additional DGP, he continued to investigate the Majithia case as the SIT chief till his retirement in December 2024. In January 2024, the government formed another SIT led by DIG Harcharan Singh Bhullar. The three-member SIT had then Patiala SSP Varun Sharma and Dhuri SP Yogesh Sharma as its members.
The team had last questioned Majithia in March for more than eight hours daily for two days, following Supreme Court directives directing him to appear before the SIT probing the drugs case against him. Earlier, Majithia had claimed innocence and said that the police had no evidence against him, due to which it could not present any challan.
A few days ago, a video was released by Majithia on his social media account X. He claimed that the government may take some action in this case soon. His house may even be checked. Because the government has not found anything in the first case. Now it is preparing to do something else before the 2027 elections. However, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema says that if Majithia is truthful then he definitely does not need to be afraid. The SIT is taking action as per the rules.
