COURT REJECTS BAIL PLEA OF CONTRACTOR TELU RAM

LUDHIANA: The court of additional district and sessions judge, Ludhiana, Ajit Atri dismissed the bail plea of contractor Telu Ram, one of the accused in Rs 2,000 crore food grain transportation scam, on Saturday. Telu Ram, who is lodged in the jail, filed a plea seeking regular bail. Earlier, on Friday the apex court had dismissed bail plea of Pankaj Kumar alias Meenu Malhotra, personal assistant to former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu. Ashu is lodged in the jail on judicial remand.

Telu Ram, partner of Gurdas Ram and Company, was arrested by the vigilance bureau on August 16, the day when the vigilance bureau lodged an FIR in the case.

The vigilance bureau had already filed a chargesheet in the court against Telu Ram, former Congress minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, and commission agent (arhtiya) Krishan Lal Dhotiwala in the court on November 14.

Ashu is still in judicial custody in the case after he was arrested on August 22.

On August 16, the vigilance bureau had registered a case against the partners of Gurdas Ram and Company, officials of the state food and civil supplies department, and employees of concerned procurement agencies for allegedly committing irregularities in accepting labour, cartage and transportation tenders for grain markets in Ludhiana district.

An FIR was registered under sections 420 (cheating), 409 (criminal breach of trust), 467 (forgery of valuable security, etc), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), 120B (party to a criminal conspiracy to commit an offence) of the IPC and sections 7 (2), 8, 12 and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act at the vigilance bureau police station in Ludhiana.