Tell Canada to extradite NRIs wanted in drug cases: Capt

‘Extradition requests pending for threefour years, scuttling efforts towards justice’

Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday urged the Centre to take up with Canadian authorities the extradition of 10 NRIs declared proclaimed offenders in drugs cases. The extradition has been pending for three-four years, the CM said in letters to Union home minister Rajnath Singh and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.

CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday urged the Union government to take up with Canadian authorities the extradition of 10 non-resident Indians (NRIs) declared proclaimed offenders in cases related to illicit drugs in the state.

The extradition has been pending for three-four years, scuttling the efforts to bring these NRIs to justice, the chief minister said in separate letters to home minister Rajnath Singh and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj. “Punjab’s Congress government has scaled up efforts for their extradition from Canada as part of its war on drugs but was hampered as these cases are pending at various levels,” Amarinder Singh said.

The state government has decided to aggressively pursue the extradition issue since the custodial interrogation of these NRIs is vital to expose the drugs network in Punjab and those patronising the trade, a spokesperson said here.

The list includes Parminder Singh Deo Pindi and Amarinder Singh Laddi, the two NRIs whose name had prominently came up in the multi-crore drug racket also revolving around political leaders. These two NRIs are key men in the case and have remained out of reach of the Enforcement Directorate. The list does not have the name of a third prominent NRI in the case, Satpreet Satta.

Another extradition request relates to Ranjit Kaur Kahlon, wife of Anoop Singh Kahlon, of Jhandu Singha village in Jalandhar district in whose name her husband had purchased properties in Jalandhar and Zirakpur from proceeds of drug money, the spokesperson said.

Punjab’s Congress govt has scaled up efforts for extradition from Canada as part of its war on drugs, but is hampered as these cases are pending at various levels. CAPT AMARINDER SINGH, chief minister