Week after FIR, Punjab Vigilance issues lookout circular against BIS Chahal

Aman Sood

Patiala, August 10

A week after the Vigilance Bureau booked Capt Amarinder Singh’s former media adviser BIS Chahal in a DA case, they are now conducting raids to arrest the accused and have got a look out circular (LOC) issued against him to ensure he does not leave the country.

Incommunicado

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Raids were conducted in Delhi, HP, Patiala and Mohali. However, Chahal remains incommunicado. To ensure that he does not leave the country, an LOC has been issued.

A senior VB official

VB officials claimed in the FIR that Chahal’s expenditure is almost 305 per cent more than his known sources of income. VB sources confirmed that raids were conducted at some places in Delhi and Himachal Pradesh in addition to Patiala and Mohali in connection with the case. “However, Chahal remains incommunicado and to ensure that he does not leave the country, an LOC has been issued,” said a senior VB official.

Another senior official said the grilling of Chahal was essential to know the sources of his income. “Initially, when he joined the investigation, he remained evasive as regards questions pertaining to the properties bought by him,” he said. They would include more names in the FIR if they got any more evidence pertaining to ill-gotten money used to buy such properties, he added.

The VB said an FIR was registered under Sections 13(1)B and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Chahal on August 2. As per the FIR, from March 2017 to September 2021, the income of Chahal and his family members was Rs 7.85 crore against the expenditure of Rs 31.79 crore, “which was almost 305 per cent more than his known sources of income”.

The FIR states that Chahal acquired properties in his own and his family members’ names, including Dashmesh Luxury Wedding Resort (Alcazar) in Fatehgarh Sahib, a five-storey commercial building on the mini secretariat road in Patiala, 72 kanal and 14 marla land at Kalyan village near a toll plaza on the Nabha road. “He also bought land at Malaheri and Harbanspura villages in Fatehgarh Sahib,” it adds.