LUDHIANA: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today demanded an impartial probe into the multi-thousand crore scams of food and civil supplies minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu besides charging the Congress government of extending protection to those behind the heinous sacrilege at Sri Harmandar Sahib.
Addressing a press conference here, former minister Maheshinder Singh Grewal said the probe must take into account the increase in the cash credit limit for purchase of paddy by Rs 14, 000 crore from outside the State by government agencies in Punjab. “It seems Bharat Bhusan Ashu is the mastermind behind this scam because he has not only failed to hold a probe into the issue but is also refusing to hand over investigation into this scam to an impartial agency”.
Mr Maheshinder Grewal said this was not all. “Corruption worth several hundreds of crores has been done in the purchase of gunny bags”. He said the black deeds of Ashu were also revealed in the leaked whats app chat of the Patiala food and civil supply district manager. He said despite the mounting evidence against the minister, the central government was not taking any action in the matter. “The union government owes an explanation to Punjabis as to why it is not proceeding against Ashu”.
Mr Grewal also demanded the role of Mrs Mamta Ashu, the wife of the food and civil supplies minister, should also be probed in connection with the misuse of funds received for the Smart City project. He said the minister’s wife was the Chairman for utilization of funds for the Smart City project. He also demanded a separate inquiry into the illegality committed by diverting funds from the Ludhiana Improvement Trust for purchase of interlocking tiles.
The SAD leader also charged the Congress government with extending patronage to those behind the ghastly sacrilege at Sri Harmandar Sahib. He said the accused has still not been identified. He said in direct contrast the accused responsible for planting a bomb at the Ludhiana courts had been identified within hours despite having been blown by the blast. He also demanded that the links of Cabinet minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa with the Sikhs for Justice should be probed.
Meanwhile senior leader Harish Rai Dhanda spoke about how the complainant who had filed a rape charge against Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) leader Simarjit Bains was being victimized by filing of false FIRs against her and her son in various States. He said one case had been registered against the son of the complainant at Kota while another case had been registered in Orissa against the entire family as well as the witness in the case. “It is clear that Simarjit Bains, who is in the process of being declared a proclaimed offender, is trying his level best to avoid a jail term by registering false cases against the complainant to affect a compromise”.
Others present in the press conference included Pritpal Singh Pali, Ranjit Singh Dhillon and Harbhajan Singh Dang.