Congress activists burn an effigy of Bikram Singh Majithia during a demonstration in Amritsar on January 8 after his name figured in a multicrore drug racket. Congress activists burn an effigy of Bikram Singh Majithia during a demonstration in Amritsar on January 8 after his name figured in a multicrore drug racket.

Punjab politics could be riding high on drugs, with an arrested drug kingpin alleging links with several politicians and even claiming funding of their campaigns during the last elections.Wrestler-turned-drug peddler Jagdish Singh Bhola's latest claim that Punjab Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia was also involved in the multi- crore drug trafficking racket has put the state politics on the boil. Though Majithia, brother-in-law of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, has denied the allegations, the Congress has demanded a CBI probe to expose the alleged drug mafia-politicians-police racket.Bhola, a suspended DSP and Arjuna awardee, who is accused of masterminding the 700 crore drug racket, was arrested on November 12 last year. Two days later, on his instance, SAD leader Maninder Singh Aulakh alias Bittu and Jagjit Singh Chahal, a businessman who owns three drug factories in Himachal Pradesh, were apprehended from Amritsar. Aulakh's questioning by the Punjab Police revealed that he had used the state government vehicles for smuggling drugs.Patiala Senior Superintendent of Police Hardial Singh Mann, who unearthed two important supply chains of synthetic drugs in Punjab in recent weeks, has said that investigations established that the arrested smugglers had funded last Assembly elections in Punjab. " Jagdish Bhola has confessed to political funding during the last elections, but we can't reveal the names at this stage," Mann said.The new revelations bolster former Punjab DGP (prisons) Shashi Kant's claim that the state elections are fought with the help of drugs and drug money. He had claimed last year that the size of annual narcotics trade in the state was around Rs 60,000 crore.The Punjab Police believe that the escort vehicles given to SAD MP from Khadoor Sahib, Rattan Singh Ajnala, and his legislator son Amarpal Singh Boni were used by Aulakh to smuggle drugs. Aulakh, who used to manage election campaigns of the father-son duo, is also said to be close to Majithia, who heads the Youth Akali Dal. Sources said Aulakh was usually seen in the escort vehicles of Akali leaders."Akali leaders Rattan Singh Ajnala and his son Amarpal Singh Boni provided shelter and support to Youth Akali Dal leader Aulakh.Ajnala's family was a close confidant of the Badals, and Aulakh is a protg of Majithia. The interrogation of Rattan Singh and his son would expose the hidden characters of this racket," said Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary . Earlier, drug lord Raja Kandola, who was arrested by the Delhi Police in October 2012 and is currently in Tihar jail, had put the Punjab Police and politicians in the dock by alleging their connections with drug lords.Kandola, in his statement to Enforcement Directorate, had said that Bathinda Inspector General of Police Paramraj Singh Umranangal, Mohali SP ( Detective) Balwinder Singh and a Congress leader Harman Bajwa were his "friends" who used to visit his farmhouses frequently.Umranangal, however, had denied any relation with Kandola. " I never had any relations with him. I know him simply because his son studied with my son in the same school," he said.In the wake of " sensational disclosures", the Congress's Punjab unit has demanded immediate dismissal of Sukhbir Badal and Majithia for their " deep involvement" in the drug trafficking, besides a CBI probe into the drug scandal. " Jagdish Bhola has directly named Majithia as the mastermind of drug trafficking in Punjab.He has also accused the Punjab Police for demanding Rs 25 crore bribe for him to hush up the matter, besides accusing the police of going soft on him after Majithia's call to them...These sensational disclosures have brought to fore a deep nexus between the drug mafia-powerful politicians and the Punjab Police," said Sukhpal Singh Khaira, spokesperson, Punjab Congress.Dismissing the allegations, Majithia said, " Bhola was caught following an anti- drug campaign launched by the SAD-BJP government under the leadership of Sukhbir Singh Badal.This campaign, as well as the zero tolerance policy of the state government, has already led to more than 15,000 arrests. This has unsettled the Congress and has led it to lend its support to these wild allegations." Going a step further, he said, " Punjab Congress leaders have also jumped in and joined Bhola in attacking me despite knowing Bhola's antecedents...A smuggler has become an investigator. Tomorrow Bhola may blame the Gandhis for drug smuggling. This turn of events should be investigated to know how this conspiracy was hatched and who all are behind it."