Chandigarh: The arrest of former Congress minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau in connection with a disproportionate assets case has raised the concerns of former Congress ministers and MLAs.
Vigilance officials said that investigation has been initiated against about a dozen former ministers and MLAs of the state in connection with the disproportionate assets case.
The Congress leaders against whom investigations are currently underway include Om Prakash Soni, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Sunder Sham Arora, Vijay Inder Singla, Brahm Mohindra, former MLAs Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon, Barindermeet Singh Pahra, Madan Lal Jalalpur, Bharatinder Singh Chahal, who was an advisor to former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, and former minister Gurpreet Singh Kangar, who joined the BJP, a Vigilance official said.
Similarly, an investigation has also been initiated against several police officers in the case of disproportionate income. The Vigilance has expedited the collection of information regarding the properties of O P Soni, Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon, Pahra and Madanlal Jalalpur. Thus action is likely to be taken against others in the coming days.
The Congress leaders, who have come under the grip of vigilance, have started running away and these leaders are taking the help of senior lawyers of the High Court.
Vigilance officials say that it is taking time to collect the details of the property of Bharatinder Singh Chahal. Vigilance sources said that a police officer, who was close to the previous Congress government, has sold his assets and gone abroad. This former officer also under the lense of the Vigilance.
The Punjab Vigilance Bureau is also re-investigating the multi-crore scam in the irrigation department during the SAD-BJP government. So far, two former ministers Janmeja Singh Sekhon, Sharanjit Singh Dhillon and three former IAS officers Sarvesh Kaushal, K.B.S. Sidhu and Kahan Singh Pannu have been summoned for questioning twice.