Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh. (File photo)
The Punjab vigilance bureau on Saturday filed closure report in Rs 1,144 crore alleged Ludhiana city centre scam in the court of session judge Gurbir Singh. As per sources, the vigilance has given clean chit to Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and thirty-one others booked in the scam. It was in 2007 that the vigilance filed FIR against 36 persons including Captain, his son Raninder Singh and son in law Raminder Singh for allegedly favoring Delhi based firm ‘Today Homes’ for City centre project announced by Captain during his tenure as CM in 2003.
Soon after SAD came to power in 2007, the vigilance filed FIR and started probe in the ‘scam’ alleging that the infrastructure firm received undue benefits of at least Rs 1,144 crore due to the favoritism by Captain and officials of Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT). Of 36 persons booked then, 32 are now alive.
The project practically started in 2006 at a site in Ludhiana which Captain claimed was his ‘dream project’. It was announced that multiplexes, leisure parks, malls and other commercial hubs would be constructed in Ludhiana and overall it would be called ‘City Centre’.
Trilok Singh Sood, defence counsel for Captain Amarinder Singh and others confirmed to The Indian Express that the district attorney general appearing for the prosecution filed closure report in the court on Saturday.
The court has fixed the next date of hearing on September 2 when the defence counsels would also be provided the copies of the report.
