Days after AAP claimed that the Punjab chief minister was detained at the Delhi airport upon his return from Paris and fined ₹ 50,000, Bhagwant Mann on Friday targeted the BJP-led Centre, alleging “this is how they take revenge.”
“When I, along with my delegation, was leaving the airport, the officials cited that there was ‘pressure from above’. After this, they asked us to pay a ₹ 50,000 fine and we told them that if it is a matter of your job, then they may impose the fine,” said Mann.
“They said they would check luggage. When they found nothing, they said we could go,” he said.
“When Mann returned from Paris and arrived at the Delhi airport, he was deliberately detained for three hours. Excuses were made that ‘your luggage is still arriving’ and ‘your luggage is still being checked’.
Mann went to Paris after the Punjab and Haryana High Court allowed a state government plea challenging the Centre’s “arbitrary” decision denying him political clearance for the visit. These were outright lies and an insult to Punjab,” Pannu said. He alleged that after three hours, when Mann was allowed to leave and was about to depart after placing his luggage in a vehicle, officials came running after him and said that they were under “tremendous pressure from above”.
