Ex-CM Channi quizzed for 7 hours, terms probe as ‘political vendetta’
CHANDIGARH Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) on Friday grilled former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi for nearly seven hours pertaining to a complaint of disproportionate assets (DA) against him.
A senior VB official said Channi was asked questions about his businesses and details of properties that he, his family members and relatives, who have been working closely with him for the past few years, own.
The VB sleuths disclosed that Channi was also grilled on his financial relationship with a Kharar-based coloniser Praveen Kumar, who was arrested by the VB in a different case recently.
Sources in VB said Channi was asked if he has made investments in Canada and the USA. “He was asked details about his relatives or friends living in Canada, the US and their businesses,” said an official.
“Channi was also asked about the reasons for staying abroad for 8 to 9 months. He was also quizzed on what he did there, with whom he stayed and the expenditure incurred abroad,” said the above-quoted official.
Officials added that Channi was also asked specific questions about his connection with Iqbal Sarpanch and his role in illegal mining in the Jindapur area falling in the Chamkaur Sahib constituency, which Channi represented as an MLA.
While coming out of the VB office, Channi termed the probe ‘totally politically’ motivated.
Channi again slammed the AAP government, alleging that “this government was behaving worse than the Mughals.”
“They want to humiliate and defame me. You can’t build a case without any basis. I stand by what I said earlier in the morning,” Channi said.
Earlier in the morning, Channi addressed a press conference before going to the VB office. He accused the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government of carrying out a ‘political vendetta’ and said that he was not scared of the probe.
The former CM said that he was summoned by the VB on a public holiday when all government offices were closed on account of Baisakhi and Dr BR Ambedkar’s birth anniversary.
Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said the AAP government was stooping to a new low in politics. “All the charges against Channi are false and frivolous,” they claimed.
Hitting back at Channi, finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema accused him of shedding crocodile tears. “If Channi had cared about SC and ST people, he would have taken action against the people who embezzled SC scholarship money. Now, when he is facing the consequences of his corruption, he only wants the sympathy of the people,” the AAP leader said.