A month after Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann warned action against senior Congress leader Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, the latter was arrested by the state’s vigilance department from Amloh at 3 am on Tuesday.
He has been arrested on allegations of taking bribe for felling of trees during his tenure as the Forest Minister in ex-CM Captain Amarinder Singh’s Cabinet
The development comes as part of Mann government’s move to heavily crackdown on state’s Punjab.
Two more arrests have been made along with the minister, including a local journalist Kamaljit Singh.
The accused minister allegedly took Rs 500 for felling of one tree as ‘commission’. During his tenure, 25,000 trees on forest land were allegedly chopped off over a period of one year. He is also alleged to have been taking money for planting of new saplings.
Dharmsot got a clean chit in SC Scholarship scam by Amarinder Singh government.
Other two arrested in the case are said to be working as the minister’s OSDs. First is Chamkaur Singh, who was arrested from Patiala and the second is Kamaljit, arrested from Khanna.
The arrests were made after questioning of District Forest Officer (DFO) and his accomplice contractor, who were arrested recently.
As per information, former minister Dharamsot is alleged to have taken Rs 3 crore so far as bribe. As per reports Divisional Forest Officer Gurnampreet Singh and Harminder Singh Hammi were arrested recently on charges of corruption.
While Gurnampreet Singh associated with the minister, his accomplice Hammi used to collaborate with the journalist wirking as the minister’s assistant, The Hindustan Times reported.
IAS officer Kripa Shankar Saroj had accused Dharmsot in Scholarship scam during Captain Amarinder Singh’s regime in which he got a clean chit.
After removing his own minister Vijay Singla in corruption case, this is another big step taken by the Bhagwant Mann government against corruption.
The Punjab Congress has, however, raised questions on the arrest. Former minister Gurkirat Kotli has termed the arrest as an act of political vendetta and is aimed at taking the people’s attention away from pressing issues. He alleged that the arrest has been made to take political advantage ahead of Sangrur Lok Sabha polls.
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