Patiala (Punjab): Former MLA and Congress candidate from Bholath Sukhpal Khaira was released on bail from Patiala Central Jail on Friday. On Thursday, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had granted bail to Khaira who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case on November 11 last year.
Speaking to reporters after being released, Khaira said he was "completely innocent". "Like me, there are many innocent people inside the jail," he said. Khaira was arrested by the Delhi team of the ED after it collected enough evidence against the leader in connection with the case.
Khaira is set to reach his constituency today where he is expecting a grand reception by his supporters. He has got permission for filing his nomination paper up to January 31.
It is alleged that Khaira visited the United States in 2016 when he was with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and raised funds totalling an amount of USD 1,19,000 from the non-resident Indians (NRIs) in the run-up to Punjab state assembly elections.
ED recovered the documents pertaining to this funding during a raid in March this year, and when he was questioned about it, he disclosed entire fund-raising trip was organised by the AAP, and that he had no knowledge of the funding. Khaira was elected to the state assembly in 2017 from Bholath in Kapurthala district on an AAP ticket.
Two years ago, he quit the AAP and formed the Punjab Ekta Party (PEP), which he merged with the Congress in June this year. In September this year, the ED recorded the statement of AAP national secretary Pankaj Gupta in connection with alleged foreign funds raised by the party in the run-up to 2017 Punjab assembly elections -- a move that the AAP described as a political vendetta at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Read: Sukhpal Khaira along with 2 rebel AAP MLAs visits Rahul Gandhi
