Disproportionate assets: Punjab vigilance books Akali Dal leader

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Sunday registered a case of disproportionate assets against senior Shiromani Akali Dal leader Dyal Singh Kolianwali.

A Bureau spokesman said that Kolianwali has been booked for amassing wealth beyond his known sources of income. He has been accused of allegedly misusing his official position.

Kolianwali, a former chairman of thew Punjab Agro Industries Corporation during the previous Akali Dal-BJP government and a former member of the Punjab Subordinate Service Selection Board (PSSSB), was considered close to the family of then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

However, the Akali Dal condemned the Congress government in Punjab for indulging in vendetta politics in this regard.

In a statement here, former minister and party spokesman Daljit Singh Cheema said the Congress government was in so much of a hurry to frame the SAD leader that it had not even bothered to give him an adequate chance to explain his sources of income to the relevant authorities.

"False charges have been levelled against Kolianwali by stating that he owns land in Uttarakhand and Rajasthan besides a hotel with the sole intention of defaming him in the eyes of the people. The government has even refused to take into account the detailed representation of properties and income submitted by Kolianwali to the income tax authorities," he said.