Sukhbir behind mafia culture in state: Khaira

Jalandhar, July 4

In response to Sukhbir Badal’s recent statements on the mining mafia, Sukhpal Singh Khaira, MLA and former leader of opposition, on Sunday said it was Sukhbir who first introduced different types of mafias in the state during his last 10 years of misrule.

Khaira said the word mafia was unknown and unheard in Punjab until Sukhbir Badal took over the reins of Punjab as de facto chief minister (Dy CM in 2009). Khaira said being a mafia himself, he introduced different cartels to control the trades of liquor, mining, transport, land, etc.

Terming Sukhbir as the kingpin of mafia, Khaira said his wealth had grown multifold from being an ordinary transporter with a few buses and ancestral agricultural land holding like other farmers of Malwa until the ’70s and ’80s.

Khaira said today Sukhbir was one of the richest politicians of the country, besides being one of the richest Sikhs worldwide. Khaira said known assets and wealth of the Badal clan ran into thousands of crores.

Making these allegations, Khaira listed The Trident and Oberoi hotels at Gurgaon, The Sukh Villas at New Chandigarh, 12 kanals (two plots) in Sector 9, Chandigarh, 250 luxury AC buses — including Indo Canadian and farm houses at Badal village, Ranian and Rajasthan as Sukhbir’s properties.

Khaira said corruption to the tune of thousands of crores done by scamsters like Gurinder, alias Bhapa, and Gurinder Pehalwan of GMADA could not have been possible without the blessings and share holding of junior Badal.

Khaira said Sukhbir arm-twisted old liquor companies like Gheo Mal of Amritsar out of business to replace them with his cronies. Similarly, there was blatant and rampant illegal mining during Badal’s “10-year misrule”. Khaira said the junior Badal while in power created a well-knit land mafia in the state controlled by him, that would purchase all lands planned to be acquired by the state at a throwaway price for various development works like road construction, acquisition for Mohali airport, acquisition for the creation of new Chandigarh, sewerage projects, etc. — TNS