Make info public on graft charge against nephew by May 31: Bhagwant Mann to Charanjit Channi

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh/Ropar, May 25

There seems to be no end to the verbal duel between Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his predecessor Charanjit Singh Channi over the allegations against a close relative of the latter, seeking a bribe of Rs 2 crore for giving a job to a budding sportsperson.

Will expose it, otherwise

If you don’t do it, I will release the photo and name of your nephew and the meeting place of the sportsperson with your nephew before Punjabis.

Bhagwant Mann, cm

Mann today warned Channi, saying that he was giving an opportunity to the latter till 2 pm on May 31, to make public all information about his nephew, seeking bribe from a sportsperson in lieu of a government job.

“If you don’t do it, I will release the photo and name of your nephew and the meeting place of the sportsperson with your nephew before Punjabis,” he said in a tweet.

False, frivolous case

I have sworn at a gurdwara that none of my relatives ever sought bribes to give jobs. They want to book me in a false and frivolous case.

Charanjit Singh Channi, former cm

The challenge to Channi comes in the wake of the recent assertion made by him at a gurdwara in Chamkaur Sahib, saying that the allegations levelled against him were false. He had sworn at the gurdwara on Tuesday that none of his relatives had ever sought bribes to give jobs. They wanted to book me in a false and frivolous case, Channi had alleged.

Holding a press conference at Morinda later today, Channi said the CM was making excuses to arrest him in a false case. “Chief Minister Mann did not even have the courtesy to congratulate me for my PhD degree, received a few days ago. On the contrary, he has been making efforts aggressively to arrest me,” said Channi.

He said if the Chief Minister had any evidence of corruption against him, then instead of resorting to a tweet war and waiting for May 31, he could order for his immediate arrest. Channi also accused CM Mann of “misusing the aeroplane of the Punjab Government for the benefit of AAP as it was being taken to other states”. He said Mann’s tours to other states were being planned only to facilitate other AAP leaders to visit different states by the plane.

Mann had claimed at a public event in Dirba (Sangrur) on Monday that during his visit to Dharamsala to watch a cricket match, a player had met and told him that he had approached former Punjab CM Channi for a job under sports quota. “The cricketer was asked to meet Channi’s nephew, who had demanded Rs 2 crore bribe from the sportsperson,” he had said.

On Tuesday morning, at a function in Chandigarh, Mann again asserted these allegations and said the cricketer would be brought before the public to expose the corruption unleashed by a relative of the former CM Channi.

#bhagwant mann #charanjit channi #ropar