AAP URGES CAPT TO DISMISS GURJIT, ORDER CBI PROBE

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has urged Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh to dismiss power minister Rana Gurjit Singh from his cabinet and order an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into his “murky deals” in connection with auction of sand mines in the state.

Leader of opposition in the state assembly, Sukhpal Singh Khaira said Rana Gurjit had “directly pumped money from his company, RGS Traders Pvt Limited, into a sole proprietorship firm, Rajbir Enterprises, which paid money for two sand mines in Saidpur Khurd and Mehdipur in Nawanshahr”.

“RGS Traders was registered in 1992 with Rana Gurjit and Hardeep Singh as its first directors. The minister’s brother, Rana Ranjit Singh, and son, Rana Inder Partap Singh, were also appointed directors subsequently,” the AAP leader said at a press conference.

Khaira, accompanied by half a dozen MLAs of AAP and those of Lok Insaaf Party, said these transactions showed Rana Gurjit’s direct benami (proxy) investment in the auction.

The contracts for the two mines were bagged by the minister’s former employees, Amit Bahadur and Kulvinder Paul Singh, at Rs 26.52 crore and Rs 9.21 crore, respectively. After the controversy broke out four months ago, the minister was accused of using his “frontmen” to grab the mining contracts, but he denied any involvement. The state government set up the Justice JS Narang (retd) Commission which gave a clean chit to the minister.

The AAP leader, who also met chief secretary Karan Avtar Singh and handed over a letter containing his demands, said there was enough evidence for a thorough probe in the matter. “Only a CBI inquiry can unearth the manner in which the two sand mines were awarded to the minister’s frontmen despite blatant violation of bidding conditions. If the government takes no action, I will petition the high court for CBI probe,” he said.