BJP candidate Surinderpal Singh Ghoga has been named as an accused in a three-month-old illegal mining case registered at the Sadar police station in Fazilka.
Ghoga, a former close aide of Fazilka AAP MLA Narinderpal Singh Sawna, joined the BJP last week and was subsequently fielded by the party from Ward No. 23 for the Municipal Council polls.
Hardev Singh Bedi, SHO, Sadar police station, Fazilka, said that based on the statement of a Junior Engineer from the Mining Department, police had registered a case under Sections 4 and 21 of the Mining and Minerals Act against unidentified persons on February 1, 2026. The FIR stated that a huge quantity of sand had been found illegally dumped near Prem Nursery on the outskirts of Fazilka town.
The SHO said that Ghoga had, in a video message at the time, claimed ownership of the sand and stated that it had been excavated from agricultural fields after the floods under the scheme “Jisda khet, usdi ret”.
However, no action was taken against him then.
At the time the case was registered, Ghoga was considered close to local MLA Sawna. However, he has now been formally named in the case.
Ghoga is contesting against former Municipal Council president Anil Sethi, once considered a close aide of former minister and ex-Fazilka MLA Surjit Kumar Jyani of the BJP. Interestingly, Sethi quit the BJP last week and joined the AAP, which has fielded him against Ghoga from the same ward.
In a video message, Ghoga alleged that naming him as an accused in the FIR was an attempt to intimidate him into withdrawing from the election. He claimed that he had been threatened against contesting the polls and asserted that he had never been involved in illegal mining. He further alleged that he had been falsely implicated due to political considerations.
