Chandigarh: New layers of irregularities in the food and supplies department have started to open up. The scam of the tender case has now expanded to dozens of districts. The Vigilance Bureau has received 19 fresh complaints in this regard which are being investigated.
The Vigilance is all set to register three new cases out of these. After the arrest of former Food and Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, the Vigilance has started the investigation of the tender case expeditiously.
According to sources, the Vigilance has asked to investigate the complaint received against former Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal. Former MLA Sarup Chand Singla has lodged a complaint against Manpreet. Mohali DPS Gill has complained to the Vb that his farmhouse in Ludhiana was demolished in which former minister Ashu is suspected to be involved. Vigilance Ludhiana has launched an investigation into the matter.
The Bureau has handed over the investigation of the tender case in Fatehgarh Sahib, Hoshiarpur, Faridkot, Moga, Ferozepur, Mansa, Sangrur, Barnala, Tarn Taran, Bathinda and Patiala to various vigilance ranges. There are shocking facts in the complaints that the vehicles whose registration has been submitted to the department for transportation were the same in different districts.
Sources said trucks with similar numbers have ferried to several districts at the same time.
Roshan Lal and Surjit Kumar of Nawanshahr district have lodged a complaint regarding the scam in Fatehgarh Sahib district, which is being investigated by the Vigilance Range Ropar. In this, the RCs of the vehicles were not attached to the tenders on which the grain was transported.
According to the complaint given by Madan Lal, the contractor has given wrong numbers of vehicles in Banur cluster. Barinder Kumar of Ludhiana has complained that all tenders of Patiala district were given to Prem Gupta and Yogesh Gupta.
A tender has been said to have been allotted to a blacklisted contractor in Hoshiarpur and the Jalandhar SSP is investigating it.
Sachin Kumar has pointed out irregularities in the tender case in Nawanshahr. Jaspal Singh, a resident of Mata village in Faridkot, has said in the complaint that the list of vehicles that have been included in the tenders held in Faridkot and Kotkapura has been put up in other districts as well. Ssp Ferozepur range is investigating the matter.
Similarly, Manoj Kumar, in his complaint, has said that tenders have been allotted at high rates for the last three years in Moga district. Rakesh Kumar of Mudki has put the then deputy director of Pungrain in Ferozepur in the dock.
All the contractors say that their tenders were cancelled without any basis. Jaskaran Singh of Mohali has said in the complaint that those who were allotted the tenders have given the numbers of the same vehicles in different cities. Angrej Singh and Mohinder Singh have the same complaint.