Two food and civil supplies controllers held in tender scam in Punjab
Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 22 Nov, 2022 11:38 AM
Chandigarh, Nov 22 (IANS) The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) on Tuesday arrested two district food and civil supplies controllers (DFSCs) involved in the infamous tender scam in grain markets in Ludhiana district, involving former Congress minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu.
Besides, the VB has also initiated proceedings in the court against three accused -- R.K. Singla, Deputy Director with the food and civil supplies, and Pankaj Kumar and Inderjit Singh, both personal assistants of former food and civil supplies minister Ashu -- to declare them as proclaimed offenders.
A spokesperson for the VB said the bureau had already registered a case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and of the Prevention of Corruption Act against contractors Telu Ram, Jagroop Singh and Sandeep Bhatia and owners and partners of Gurdas Ram and Company, besides officers of the state Food and Civil Supply Department for allocation of labour and transportation tenders in grain markets.
He said Telu Ram, former minister Ashu and Krishan Lal Dhotiwala and Anil Jain, both commission agents, have already been arrested and all are in judicial custody.
The VB has already presented chargesheets against them in a court at Ludhiana.
The VB on Tuesday arrested two more accused -- Sukhwinder Singh Gill, then DFSC Ludhiana West, and Harveen Kaur, then DFSC Ludhiana East. At present Gill is posted as DFSC Faridkot and Harveen Kaur as DFSC Jalandhar.
He said the accused were members and conveners of district tender committee at the time of allotment of tenders. They along with other members of committee were responsible to check the relevant documents attached with the tenders including list of transport vehicles but they had not verified the registration numbers of vehicles intentionally as the number of scooters, motorcycles, among others, were mentioned in the attached list of vehicles.
Despite submission of wrong documents, they have allotted tenders to the favourite persons by accepting bribe money from them, he added.
Lakhs of Punjabis, who lost their lives during the 1947 India-Pakistan Partition of the country, were remembered at Akal Takht on Tuesday. A special Ardas Samagam (prayer congregation) was organised in this regard at Akal Takht, in which, tributes were paid to lakhs of people who lost their lives during the country's Partition.
The incident took place in Baraut town and the motive behind it is said to be a property dispute. Circle Officer (CO) Yuvraj said that the deceased included Brijpal, 60, Jyoti, 24 and Anuradha, 17.
The Chief Minister said these clinics will be opened in every nook and corner of the state, adding, that in big villages, two such clinics will be opened for the convenience of the people. He said in the first phase, 75 such Aam Aadmi clinics have been dedicated to people to mark the 75th Independence Day.
Addressing the nation from the Red Fort, Prime Minister Modi said that the citizens are thankful to Bapu, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Babasaheb Ambedkar, Veer Savarkar and others who sacrificed their lives on the path of duty.
As India celebrates the 75th Independence Day with patriotic fervour and enthusiasm, police in the national capital have made stringent security arrangements, especially at the Red Fort, from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered his address to the nation.
An official statement quoting Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said Rs 295.60 crore was the pending arrears of sugarcane farmers which had to be paid by the government and cooperative sugar mills in the state.
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