Two detained in ex-Finance Minister’s plot purchase case

Bathinda, September 24

The Vigilance Bureau is reportedly learnt to have taken two persons in its custody in the case pertaining to the purchase of a plot by former Finance Minister Manpreet Badal in Bathinda on Sunday.

About the case

A former MLA, Sarup Chand Singla, had filed a complaint before the Vigilance, alleging that during his tenure as Finance Minister, Manpreet Badal had converted commercial plots in Bathinda into residential plots for himself.

It is also learnt from VB sources that an FIR has been registered against five persons, including Bathinda Development Authority (BDA) officials, in this matter.

However, VB officials are tightlipped over the development but sources have confirmed that an aide of Manpreet has been detained by VB officials from a club in the city on late this evening.

Even Manpreet has filed a pre-arrest bail application in the Bathinda district court.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Ram Kumar Singla has listed the matter for September 26.

The court has asked the state and the VB to produce police records on the day of hearing on Tuesday.

It is learnt that along with the bail plea, Manpreet’s counsel had submitted a transcript of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s recent public address where he allegedly stated that a five-time legislator would be sent behind the bars.

Manpreet was summoned following a complaint by former MLA Sarup Chand Singla, who had alleged irregularities in the purchase of a property at a prime location in Bathinda city.

Singla, who too had quit the Shiromani Akali Dal to join the BJP, had filed a complaint before the Vigilance in September 2021, alleging that during his tenure as Finance Minister in the previous Congress regime, Manpreet had abused his position by converting commercial plots in the Model Town into residential plots for himself.