Mayor gives clean chit to deputy mayor on tractor use

Ludhiana: After LIP councillor Harvinder Kaler levelled allegations against deputy mayor Sarabjit Kaur and her husband for utilizing an MC vehicle for personal use, Kaur has demanded an apology from Kaler within 15 days, failing which she would file a defamation suit against him, especially as mayor Balkar Sandhu has given them a clean chit.
On Monday, the LIP councillor from Ward 36 had alleged that the deputy mayor and her husband Jarnail Singh Shimlapuri had kept an MC tractor for their personal use in their factory, and demanded a probe. However, on Tuesday, Kaur and Shimlapuri claimed they had kept the tractor with permission, and had spent on its fuel from their own pocket for doing ward jobs, not their personal works.

Shimlapuri alleged that Kaler had levelled the allegations on the directions of the Bains brothers, and so he had kept the entire record of utilising the tractor with him. He said earlier the Bains brothers were allegedly involved in power theft cases, and fuel was also being sent for their vehicles by a few MC officials, but when Sandhu joined as mayor, all such activities came to an end. He said Kaler should seek an apology, or he would knock at the doors of the court against him.

Mayor Sandhu said it had never happened in the past that one councillor had levelled allegations against another councillor in such a manner. He said he had checked everything, and nothing against rules was done by Kaur or her husband. However, Kaler refused to apologize and maintained his allegations against Kaur. He said LIP would initiate a protest against her and her husband outside the MC office in a day or two. He refuted all allegations made by the deputy mayor against him and the Bains brothers.