Oppn bloc allies at loggerheads over Punjab Cong MLA's arrest

The Punjab Police on Thursday arrested senior Congress lawmaker Sukhpal Singh Khaira in connection with a 10 crore heroin smuggling case from 2015, setting off a political firestorm between the Congress and the state's ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and creating hurdles in any potential understanding between the two Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partners for the Lok Sabha polls

- Ravinder Vasudeva , Gaurav Bhaskar

Khaira, a three-time lawmaker from Bholath, was arrested from his home in Chandigarh around 6am after a state police raid. He was produced in chief judicial magistrate (CJM) court in Fazilka district which sent him to police remand for two days.

The police team raided Khaira's house in connection with a Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act case in which nine people have been convicted and 2kg of heroin recovered. During the arrest, Khaira and his son, Mehtab, went live on Facebook and argued with the police, sparking a stand-off that lasted nearly 30 minutes. Afterwards, the Congress leader attacked chief minister Bhagwant Mann. "He (the CM) was thirsty for my blood, everybody knows it," said Khaira, adding that he was arrested in a fake case.

The arrest triggered a political row with the Congress hitting out at the AAP and Mann, accusing them of vendetta politics. A delegation of party leaders, led by Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Partap Singh Bajwa, met governor Banwarilal Purohit and sought his intervention.

"I will take its details... But whatever may be the case, if someone does injustice, they don't survive for long. If anyone does injustice to us, then we are not the ones who will tolerate it," Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said in Chhattisgarh.