As the verbal crossfire between Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh and former cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu continues, the Punjab vigilance bureau has detected ‘shady deals’ in connection to Sidhu. As per reports, sources state that the vigilance team and the anti-corruption bureau has fast-tracked its probe against Sidhu, his wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu, OSD Bunny Sandhu, PA Gaurav, and clerk Rajiv Kumar.
As the focus of the vigilance bureau was on some controversial decisions taken by Sidhu during his tenure as a minister, the investigation claims to have found links to five shady deals with certain corporate firms favoured by him. The former cricketer was Local Government, Tourism & Cultural Affairs minister from March 2017 to July 2019 in the Amarinder Singh government.
The links are not new however, the probe has been given a push with more instances being identified where financial favors were allegedly given by the Sidhus to their near and dear ones, as per officials.
Reacting to the timing of the probe, Sidhu tagging Punjab CM in his Tweet said, “Most welcome. Pls do your best.”
Most Welcome … Please do your Best !! @capt_amarinder
— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) May 15, 2021
Details of some cases being probes
On Saturday, Amritsar SSP (VB) Parampal Singh submitted a detailed report to his seniors on some “murky deals” which involves allotment of a booth for peanuts to Navjit Kaur (wife of Navjot Kaur’s PA Gaurav Vasudeva), discrepancies in allotment of advertisement tenders to a company owned by Vasudeva and flooring tender given again to yet another firm owned by Vasudeva.
As per a Hindustan Times report, the probe has established that Navjot Kaur paid ₹1 crore to a Zirakpur-based realtor Gagandeep Singh (Prince). Two payments were made to Prince by her through cheques one in Gagandeep’s name and another in his company’s.
“Prince has told the VB that Navjot Kaur wanted to buy a house and payments were made in advance. However, no such written document about the purchase or any booking was found during the probe. It appears that the sum was collected to float a company,” informed a VB official.
Probe in another case reveals Bunny Sandhu was allegedly instrumental in getting Change of Land Use files cleared after striking deals with the contractors and builders.
Sidhu attacks Punjab CM
On the other hand, Sidhu went after the Punjab CM with guns blazing and asked Captain Amarinder Singh to stop attacking him using proxies. The two have been at loggerheads Captain denied Sidhu’s wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu a ticket for the Lok Sabha elections.
The duo later patched up over an informal lunch, but the friendship didn’t last long with Sidhu once again attacking the CM again after the Punjab & Haryana HC quashed the SIT probe into the 2015 firing cases on April 9. Sidhu has launched a fresh attack on the Badals as well over the sacrilege case.
Breaking his silence on Sidhu’s attacks, Singh on April 27 has challenged him to contest from Patiala in the 2022 polls. Sure of his win, Singh has predicted that Sidhu will lose his deposit.