Hans News Service New Delhi

TheAam Aadmi Party (AAP) alleged that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was detained for nearly three hours at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport after returning from Paris. Officials then issued him a challan of Rs 50,000, claiming they were under “tremendous pressure from above”.

The party has accused the Centre of deliberately humiliating Mann and creating hurdles in Punjab's progress, linking the alleged incident to repeated denials of political clearance for the chief minister's foreign visits.

The fine was levied by the Customs Duty Department over, what they call, undeclared luxury goods, sources said. Baltej Pannu, AAP's media in-charge in Punjab, alleged that Mann was kept waiting at the airport under the pretext that his luggage was still arriving and being checked.

AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj also alleged that Mann was made to wait at the airport after travelling to Paris to promote Punjab's products. In a post on X, Bharadwaj said the chief minister's visit came after he challenged the Centre's decision to deny him political clearance for the trip.