Punjab vigilance bureau defers summons after Hamdard seeks 10 days to appear

: Ajit Group of Newspapers editor-in-chief Barjinder Singh Hamdard has sought 10 days to appear before the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) in an inquiry into the alleged misuse of funds during the execution of the ₹315-crore Jang-e-Azadi Memorial dedicated to freedom fighters at Kartarpur, 18km from the district headquarters.

The VB had summoned Hamdard to appear before it on Monday at its Jalandhar range office.

One of the officials said in view of Hamdard’s plea, the VB has deferred the summons for now.

The VB’s Jalandhar range senior superintendent of police, Rajeshwar Singh Sidhu, said: “Fresh summons will be sent later.”

Hamdard, who was associated with the project since its conception in 2012, had quit as member secretary of the Jang-eAzadi Memorial Foundation and as its managing committee president on April 10, blaming the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party government of “repeatedly maligning the name of the memorial by sending police and vigilance teams”.

Following complaints about the alleged misuse of funds in the construction of the memorial, the Jalandhar VB initiated a probe in March.

Besides conducting multiple checks at the site and confiscating all official records from drawings to funds sanctioned by the state government from 2014-16, the VB had also questioned the memorial’s managing committee secretary, Lakhwinder Singh Johal, and other officials of the public works department, water supply and sanitation and contractors involved in the construction.

Spread over 25 acres at Kartarpur and located 18km from Jalandhar, the mega project was the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP government’s dream project.

The memorial is a unique piece of art that has a minaret, a seminar hall, an auditorium, a movie hall, a cafeteria, a library, and an open-air theatre for laser show besides an amphitheatre.

A SENIOR VB OFFICIAL SAID FRESH SUMMONS WILL BE SENT LATER

Cong appeals to assemble in Jalandhar

Punjab Congress on Monday appealed to all the political and non-political organisations to assemble in Jalandhar on June 1 to show solidarity with Ajit Group editor Barjinder Singh Hamdard.

The state Congress leadership, which met in Delhi, passed a resolution condemning the AAP government for its attempts to “silence constructive criticism and dissent” in Punjab.