EastEnders spoilers follow.
EastEnders kicked off Jags Panesar's exit plot tonight (October 5) after his mother Suki betrayed her son to the police after learning of his relationship with Habiba Ahmed.
With the Panesar family still in the middle of a cover-up operation following Vinny's (Shiv Jalota) involvement in Martin Fowler's attack last month, tonight's trip to Albert Square saw tensions heightened as Suki (Balvinder Sopal) began to worry about the police searching the flat after finding Jags' (Amar Adatia) blood-stained jeans.
Related: EastEnders star Amar Adatia teases Jags Panesar exit plot and reveals future plans
Luckily for the family, however, when the police do finally pay Suki a visit, it's only to break the news that they don't have any suspects for either the break-in or the attack on Martin – much to Suki's relief.
"Unfortunately, that's often the way with these opportunistic crimes," the detective explained. "We couldn't find any fingerprints we could match, no-one's come forward with any information. So I'm afraid we're having to move on."
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"What a world we live in, eh?" Suki replied.
With the Panesars all happy to have avoided suspicion, Jags decided it was the ideal time to tell his family about his relationship with Habiba (Rukku Nahar), and invited his family to the pub to introduce them to Habiba, telling them how much he loves her.
As everyone waited on Suki's reaction to the news, the Panesar matriarch surprised them all by appearing happy for the couple, telling Habiba that all she wants is her family's happiness.
But it later became clear that the news of her son's love life had left her seething, as she took the cupcake that Habiba offered to her and threw it in the bin down the road.
Later, however, Suki took her anger even further and made the decision to betray her son – by handing his bloody jeans over to the police.
"And you're certain your son was wearing these on the day of Martin Fowler's assault?" Suki was asked, before she replied simply: "Yes."
With Jags' days in the Square now officially numbered, what does this mean for his exit? Will he be heading for a stint in prison – or will Jags do a runner?
Speaking earlier this month about actor Amar Adatia's exit from the soap, Balvinder Sopal, who plays Suki, admitted to Digital Spy that she was initially "very sad" that he was leaving.
"I felt like we were just getting to know each other as an on-screen family and we were just starting to get to grips with working the dynamics of the family. It was really interesting and intriguing," she said.
"I guess because of COVID as well, our time together was cut short. I was quite sad. I felt the character had a lot more potentially – there was certainly more potential we could have played as a family.
"But hey ho, these things happen. You just have to bite the bullet and get on and do it."
Fortunately, Balvinder shared that she has been keeping in touch with Amar off-screen too, and is looking forward to a good catch-up as soon as social restriction ease a little too.
"We've created a really nice unit off screen as well," she explained. "We still keep in touch, we FaceTime now and again as a whole clan – all four of us, or even five of us if we can all get on. I really hope we will stay in touch as he is a lovely guy."
EastEnders airs on BBC One.
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One of Them: From Albert Square to Parliament Square by Michael Cashman
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