BADF scam: Khaira trashes VB report absolving Ranike

A senior Congress leader on Sunday outrightly rejected the Vigilance Bureau (VB) report filed as challan in the court of Additional Sessions Judge,Amritsar,absolving former Punjab cabinet minister Gulzar Singh Ranike in the Border Area Development Fund (BADF) scam.

A senior Congress leader on Sunday outrightly rejected the Vigilance Bureau (VB) report filed as challan in the court of Additional Sessions Judge,Amritsar,absolving former Punjab cabinet minister Gulzar Singh Ranike in the Border Area Development Fund (BADF) scam. He demanded a CBI inquiry into the case.

Sukhpal Singh Khaira,former Congress MLA from Bholath,Kapurthala,while lashing out at Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal,alleged that the challan presented in court without nominating the name of the main accused,Ranike,by the VB had vindicated the stand of Congress leaders that Badals were using the Vigilance Bureau to settle scores with opposition leaders,and to benefit their own men.

Khaira said it was alarming that the VB,in its challan,named six people as accused,absolving Ranike of all charges. He added that all hopes of transparent functioning by the VB,which had been carrying out such type of shady investigations to absolve accused on the instructions of the Badals,had dashed to grounds.

As per the challan,only Rs 74 lakh of the BADP funds stands embezzled instead of crores that came to the fore during investigations.

He warned the government that the case of corruption lodged against former agriculture minister Sucha Singh Langah should not be dropped as had been planned by the Badal government. Many witnesses have already deposed before the court in the Langah case,then why is the government and the prosecuting agency VB withdrawing the case? he questioned.

He said it was surprising that the state government had left the anti-corruption institution of Lok Pal headless in the state for the past six months.

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