Chandigarh, Nov 24 (IANS): The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Sunday demanded an inquiry by a central agency or a sitting judge of the high court into the Rs 1,000 crore extortion racket being run by gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpur and his associates under the patronage of Punjab Jails Minister Sukhjinder Randhawa.

SAD leaders Bikram Singh Majithia and Daljit Singh Cheema demanded that Randhawa should be booked and arrested for extending patronage to Congressmen who brutally murdered former Akali sarpanch Dalbir Dhilwan, besides investigating the role of Bhagwanpur in the murder and the extortion racket being run by him from the jail.

The SAD leaders said a central inquiry by the CBI or the National Investigation Agency (NIA) or even by a sitting judge of the high court could alone expose the minister-gangster-police nexus in the murder of Dhilwan and the extortion racket.

Majithia said it had been seven days since Dhilwan was murdered but his killers were still at large.

"This is all because of the influence of Sukhjinder Randhawa who is giving shelter to the killers. If the police is serious about arresting the assailants, it should search the residence of the minister as well as his close associates," Majithia said.

He also provided 'documentary evidence' to link Bhagwanpur with the minister, showing how Bhagwanpur and his brother Manu were close associates of Randhawa's close aide Babbu Sukharaju.

He said that Sukharaju's nephews, Kawal and Manjot, were running a kabaddi club in New Zealand which managed players as well as tournaments abroad.