Archana Puran Singh appears before Jalandhar court via video conferencing in Bhagat Singh centenary celebration scam case

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, May 18

Bollywood actor and television personality Archana Puran Singh on Wednesday appeared before a Jalandhar court through video conferencing in connection with the Bhagat Singh centenary celebration scam case.

The multi-crore scam case dates back to 2011 when an event was organised in Bhagat Singh’s ancestral village to celebrate the freedom fighter’s birth centenary.

The event organised by Punjab Art and Culture Department included many Punjabi artistes and Bollywood celebrities like Shekhar Suman, Archana Puran Singh, Udit Narayan, Sadhna Sargam, Hans Raj Hans, Pammi Bai, Prem Chopra and Uttam Singh among others.

The Union Ministry of Cultural Affairs had allocated the fund of Rs 3.15 crore to the state government for the celebration of Shaheed-E-Azam’s birth centenary. However, a probe by the Vigilance suggested embezzlement of nearly Rs 1 crore from the funds.

According to VB’s reports, the then chairman of the Punjab Arts Council and then commissioner of Jalandhar division Dr Swaran Singh were allegedly involved in the embezzlement of nearly Rs 1 crore. Besides, the Punjab Art Council had engaged the firm GM Entertainment to bring Bollywood artistes to the event. The firm then pretended to have paid the performers and some non-performers a much higher price than the actual imbursement and bogus bills were raised.

The State Vigilance Bureau had booked the then Divisional Commissioner Swaran Singh, owner of GM Entertainment Vikas Mehra, Sanjay, a resident of Faridabad and Satveer Singh Bajwa of Chandigarh .

Talking to Jalandhar Tribune, advocate Ankur Bansal said actor Archana Puran Singh testified virtually in the Jalandhar court today. He said during the hearing, the actor stated that she was paid Rs 1.50 lakh for performing at the event, while his fellow actor Shekhar Suman was paid Rs 2.5 lakh. She said both the actors received the amount as shown in the records.

The next date of the hearing has been scheduled for July 15. Earlier in 2021, veteran singer Udit Narayan appeared before the Jalandhar court.

Bhagat Singh centenary celebration scam

• The multi-crore scam dates back to 2011 when an event was organised in Bhagat Singh’s ancestral village, Khatkar Kalan, to celebrate the freedom fighter’s birth centenary
• According to reports, the Union Ministry of Cultural Affairs had allocated the fund of Rs 3.15 crore to the state government for the celebration of Shaheed-E-Azam’s birth centenary
• However, a probe by the Vigilance Bureau suggested embezzlement of nearly Rs 1 crore from the funds

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