SAD chief Sukhbir Badal, party leaders detained in Mohali; AAP slams Akali Dal

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and other Akali leaders were on Wednesday detained in Mohali, where they had come to express solidarity with party leader Bikram Singh Majithia who was arrested last month in a disproportionate assets case.

Majithia was produced before a court in Mohali after his seven-day vigilance remand ended on Wednesday. The court extended his remand by four days.

Heavy police deployment was made outside the Vigilance Bureau (VB) office and the district court complex in Mohali.

Badal, along with party leaders Sikander Singh Maluka and Parambans Singh Bunty Romana, was detained near the Amb Sahib gurdwara.

When Badal and the other leaders tried to walk towards the gurdwara, police stopped them. Police after detaining Badal and other SAD leaders took them to a police station.

Later, the Akali leaders were released by police.

The SAD president was visiting the gurdwara to pay obeisance, after which he was scheduled to lead Akali workers to the state VB office to protest against ''political vendetta unleashed against Majithia''. In a video, the former deputy chief minister could be heard asking a police official to let him go as he wanted to pay obeisance at the gurdwara.

He said, ''Are they (AAP government) so scared of Akali workers? I am going to pay obeisance at the gurdwara.'' Speaking to reporters, Badal accused the AAP government of ''murdering'' the democratic rights of people.

''They cannot scare us. Every single Akali worker will stand firm against the AAP government's oppression and fight back. (Chief Minister) Bhagwant Mann's frustration has proven that he is rattled by the soaring spirits of Shiromani Akali Dal workers,'' he said.

He lashed out at the AAP government for preventing Akali workers from going to the gurdwara by ''misusing'' police.

Badal earlier claimed that several Akali workers headed to Mohali to express solidarity with Majithia were detained by police.

According to the SAD, many party workers in Amritsar, Beas, Patiala and other places were ''detained'' at their residences.

Describing the ''crackdown'' on Akalis as worse than the one during the Emergency, he said, ''not even during those days were Sikhs stopped from going to their sacred shrines as Akali workers and I were stopped today from peacefully visiting the gurdwara.'' Badal said, ''I don't care about this repression against me personally as defiance against repression runs in my blood. But I warn the government against repression against our peaceful Akali workers.'' Meanwhile, state Aam Aadmi Party chief Aman Arora took a dig at Badal for his claims of thousands of workers being stopped from reaching Mohali.

''I want to ask him, do you even have a thousand workers left in Punjab today? During your ten-year rule, you turned Akali Dal into 'Khaali Dal' (Empty Party),'' said Arora. The police and investigative agencies are doing their job. Arrests and cases are being pursued strictly according to the law,'' he stated.

Arora alleged that during the Akali-BJP government, these people ''looted Punjab and pushed the youth into addiction''.

''Today, Punjab is demanding justice for that betrayal, and the AAP government is working with full commitment to deliver justice to all those affected,'' Arora said.

Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema alleged that the Akali Dal transformed from a 'Panthic' movement to a ''family-run business empire under the control of Sukhbir Badal''.

''The Akali Dal was founded in 1920 to protect the Sikh faith, gurdwaras, and 'panthic' values. But after being captured by the Badal family, especially Sukhbir Badal, it shifted its focus to amassing wealth through corruption, launching hotels, transport businesses, and laundering money abroad, at the cost of Punjab's youth and future,'' he alleged.

Cheema said the SAD has now launched a new campaign'”'Parivaar Bachao Andolan' (Save-the-family campaign). ''What started in 1920 as Panth Bachao has in 2025 become 'Parivaar Bachao'. The Akali Dal is now aggressively trying to shield Majithia,'' said Cheema.

The VB arrested Majithia on June 25 for his alleged involvement in laundering over Rs 540 crore of ''drug money''. He was sent to seven-day vigilance remand on June 26 by a Mohali court.

In the FIR registered against Majithia, the VB claimed that preliminary investigations revealed that more than Rs 540 crore of ''drug money'' was laundered through several ways and it was allegedly facilitated by Majithia.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)