Chandigarh, Apr 1 (PTI) Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday claimed that the Punjab government has withdrawn senior party leader Bikram Singh Majithia's security cover, alleging "witch-hunt" by the AAP government against the former minister.

SAD's former president Badal also alleged that the AAP government was trying to "implicate" Majithia, who is his brother-in-law, in the drug case law.

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"Withdrawal of the entire Z+ security cover of Bikram Singh Majithia confirms beyond doubt the dangerous and deadly designs of the AAP government against the SAD leadership," claimed Badal in a post on X.

"This decision has to be seen alongside the massive 'witch-hunt' launched by the AAP government against Majithia," he alleged.

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Badal also mentioned about a bid on his life outside the Golden Temple in Amritsar in December by Narain Singh Chaura.

"Withdrawal of security to Majithia has to be seen with the govt's complicity in the failed lethal attempt on my life - an attempt foiled only with divine intervention of Guru Sahiban," alleged Badal.

On December 6, Badal had escaped a bid on his life when Chaura fired from a close range at Punjab's former deputy chief minister at the Golden Temple's entrance but missed as plainclothes policemen overpowered him.

On March 26, Chaura was granted bail by a court in Amritsar.

Majithia too condemned the state government for the withdrawal of his security cover.

"When they failed in silencing my voice, they withdrew my security on the evening of March 29," he said.

Majithia also claimed that the Punjab Police has formed a new special investigation team (SIT), the fifth one, in a 2021 drug case against him.

The new SIT is now headed by Varun Sharma, Assistant Inspector General (Provisioning) and he replaced Deputy Inspector General H S Bhullar.

Majithia was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act on December 20, 2021, when the then chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi-led Congress government was in power.

The action was taken on the basis of a 2018 report of the anti-drug Special Task Force. The FIR was registered by the state Crime Branch at its Mohali police station.

Majithia spent more than five months in Patiala jail and walked out of prison in August 2022 after the Punjab and Haryana High Court granted him bail.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)