Members of several organisations, including the Naujwan Bharat Sabha, staged a dharna in front of the residence of Faridkot MLA Gurdit Singh Sekhon today, accusing him of sheltering drug peddlers and smugglers.They alleged that the police had given a clean chit to the close aide of the legislator who was booked under the NDPS Act. The protesters said they had come to “shower curses” (lahnat) on the MLA for his alleged shamelessness.Addressing the gathering, speakers referred to Jagmeet Singh, alias Jattvibeny, who was arrested with heroin but was exonerated by the police. They alleged that after an application was moved by the accused’s brother, the police acted with unusual promptness in constituting a special investigation team (SIT) and probing the drug smuggling allegations against him, culminating in the clean chit.The case under the NDPS Act was registered at the Faridkot city police station against four persons, including Mahakdeep Singh, Harjit Singh, alias Jeeta, Sandeep Singh, alias Jattvibeny, and Jagmeet Singh, alias Jattvibeny. The police seized 310 grams of heroin and a weighing scale from a car Jagmeet was driving.The police had moved the court of the Special Judge, Faridkot, seeking Jagmeet’s discharge, stating that the SIT found him innocent.According to the SIT, Jagmeet had no mens rea or prior knowledge of the contraband. It said he had agreed to drop Sandeep at the bus stop after borrowing a car from Shakeel Ahmed, father of the owner of the salon where he had gone for a haircut.Two other accused, Mahakdeep and Harjit, joined them during the journey. The SIT noted that Jagmeet, employed as a helper at Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital, Faridkot, was undergoing treatment for a liver infection and taking regular medication.Though MLA Sekhon claimed that he had nothing to do with Jagmeet, the clean chit has stirred political debate after the killing of an anti-drugs activist in Mansa.