Apprehending risk to the life of the jailed former minister Bikram Singh Majithia, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) said here on Wednesday might be eliminated in custody after being framed in a false case by planting some incriminating object on his person.

In a representation to the Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit, a delegation of senior SAD leaders including former Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who is Majithia’s sister, and Majitha legislator Ganieve Kaur who is Majithia’s wife, urged him to direct the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government to remove Harpreet Sidhu from the additional charge of additional director general of police (ADGP) prisons immediately.

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The delegation said that like the previous Congress government; the AAP Government too was playing into the hands of Sidhu. They said the police officer, who had failed as head of the Special Task Force on Drugs with the drug menace increasing manifold under his watch, had been given the additional charge of state prisons solely to allow him to settle his personal scores with Majithia.

“This benefits AAP politically because the top AAP leadership including its convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal carry a personal grouse against Majithia for having to apologise to the latter for leveling false charges of drug trade against him,” the leaders added.

Speaking to reporters outside the Raj Bhawan, Badal said, “My brother Bikram Majithia’s life is not secure in jail with Sidhu as ADGP prisons. The police officer can go to any extent to harm my brother. There is a danger of Bikram being eliminated or being entangled in another false case by planting something on his person.”

Ganieve Kaur said the Majithia family feared that Sidhu would register yet another FIR against her husband.  She requested the governor to intervene in the matter and ensure justice for her family which was suffering due to the vendetta unleashed on it.

Earlier, the SAD delegation apprised the governor that Sidhu, who has animosity towards the Majithia family, should not be allowed to function as a super DGP. They said the police officer was not only head of the STF but was also instrumental in the formation of an SIT to probe the allegations against Majithia besides exercising control over it. Now, Sidhu was given the additional charge of the Jails department to allow him to cook up further false evidence against Majithia.

They said the police officer was related to Majithia and there had been bad blood between the families for generations with Sidhu’s family blaming Majithia’s family for the death of their aunt. They alleged that Majithia was being subjected to inhuman treatment in jail. The jail minister, during a visit, directed that the former minister be shifted to a ‘chakki’ which is unsafe and unfit for human habitation.

They said the cell in which Majithia was currently lodged was 8×8 feet. “The sole purpose of shifting Majithia to the said cell is to humiliate him and violate his human rights,” the leaders added.