Now, Opposition guns for Punjab Industries Minister Sunder Sham Arora

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 28

After targetting ministers Rana Gurmeet Sodhi and Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, the Opposition is now gunning for Industries Minister Sunder Sham Arora for his alleged links with Varinder Singh Dhoot, a former naib tehsildar booked by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau in a disproportionate assets case. The minister, however, denied the allegations, saying he was ready to face any probe.

Arora is already facing the heat from the SAD and AAP, which are seeking a CBI probe and criminal case against him for allegedly causing a loss of Rs 400 crore to the exchequer due to the sale of 31 acres of prime land of the liquidated JCT Electronics in Mohali to a private realtor.

Leader of Opposition and AAP senior leader Harpal Singh Cheema alleged the Punjab Vigilance was not properly investigating the disproportionate assets case against Dhoot. The naib tehsildar and the Industries Minister’s son had joint stakes in land at Hardo Khanpur and Brahmjit villages in Hoshiarpur. Cheema said: “The Punjab Vigilance Bureau had deliberately not included minister Sunder Sham Arora in the case, who has direct involvement with Dhoot in various businesses. The case should now be re-investigated by the CBI after including Arora in it”.

SAD leader Bikram S Majithia said a CBI investigation or an inquiry monitored by the High Court into the scam should be done to bring out the truth.

Meanwhile, SAD (Sanyukat) senior vice-president Bir Devinder Singh said after the AG’s legal opinion, the CBI must step in to probe the JCT land scam. He said it appeared a financial conspiracy was hatched against the vital fiscal interests of the state with brazen assurance by some corrupt bureaucrats at the helm, with the active participation of Arora.

The issue comes close on the heels of the CBI starting a preliminary probe in the multi-crore scam in the disbursal of funds under the SC post-matric scholarship scheme. Even though Social Justice Minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot has been given a clean chit by the government, the Opposition is demanding his dismissal from the Cabinet.

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