CHANDIGARH: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Punjab Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia to appear before it on December 26 in connection with alleged money laundering in the Rs 6,000-crore drug racket case.
"ED has issued summons to Majithia," official sources said, adding he is likely to be questioned on December 26 at 11 am at the directorate's office in Jalandhar.
The ED, a specialised financial investigation agency under the Union Finance Ministry, has interrogating those involved in the international drug racket, which was busted with the arrest of an NRI, Anoop Singh Kahlon, by the Fatehgarh Sahib police in March 2013.
Subsequent investigation had led to the arrest of alleged kingpin Jagdish Bhola, a dismissed DSP of Punjab Police, in November last year.
Based on Bhola's revelations, Amritsar businessmen Bittu Aulakh and Jagjit Singh Chahal, who owns pharma companies, were also arrested.
While Bhola and Bittu Aulakh are in jail, Chahal was granted bail in March this year.
All the three accused - Bhola, Bittu and Chahal – and Bittu's father Master Partap Singh have been interrogated and their statements recorded by the ED under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the sources said.
Chahal and Bittu's father, in their statements, had revealed that the minister knew Canada-based drug dealers Satpreet Satta and Parbinder Singh alias Pindi, the sources said.
Chahal, in his statement, has said that Satta was provided two gunmen and a chauffeur-driven car by Majithia during his stay in India. He has also corroborated Bhola's statement that Satta and Pindi were present at Majithia's marriage, the ED sources said.
Chahal owns pharma companies which were allegedly manufacturing precursor chemicals — ephedrine and pseudoephedrine — that were being diverted illegally for the production of synthetic drug ICE.
The sources said ED had prepared a questionnaire for Majithia.
Meanwhile, efforts to reach out to Majithia for comments turned futile as his phones remained switched off.