Punjab's ex-Deputy CM OP Soni appears before VB

Amritsar, November 29

Former Deputy Chief Minister OP Soni appeared before the Vigilance Bureau (VB) here on Tuesday for allegedly accumulating assests disproportionate to his known sources of income.

He arrived at the VB office around 10 am and was questioned by sleuths for two hours. Talking to the media, he said he would cooperate with the VB in the investigation as he had done nothing wrong.

“I have contested seven Assembly elections and after every five years, I filed an affidavit regarding my assets, both moveable and immovable, as per the directions of the Election Commission,” he said.

Varinder Singh Sandhu, SSP (Vigilance), said they had given him some forms to be filled giving details about the properties in his or his family members’ names and their sources of income. He said he had been given a week’s time to submit the same and the VB would start a probe after that.

The bureau had prepared a list of properties of the former Deputy Chief Minister, besides his income, from 2007-2022. In 2007, he had reportedly declared his assets worth Rs 1.94 crore, which grew to nearly Rs 28 crore during the last Assembly elections.

He was earlier asked to appear before the bureau on November 26. However, he did not appear stating that he was out of station.