Vigilance to probe Baba Ramdev’s land deal with Dhumal govt

“He (Baba Ramdev) has in fact been given another land, which was never allotted to him, said CM Virabhadra Singh.

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The chief minister directed the state Vigilance Bureau to look in to the matter and file an FIR.

“He is a yoga guru but illegalities committed by the state officers and few politicians who had their own interests in the venture will be booked,” he said.

The said land was given on a lease of Rs 17 lakh for 99 years . The agreement was signed by the government with Acharaya Balkrishan, a close aide of baba Ramdev .

Virbhadra also conveyed his pleasure to the state Vigilance Bureau for not taking its job seriously in probing land deals that happened during the BJP regime.  He has also threatened to make a list of assets of Prem Kumar Dhumal, both in the state and outside, public.

Initially, the congress government had proposed to refer the matter to the CBI but now Virbhadra told The Indian Express that “since the CBI has been completely saffronised by the NDA by posting several Gujarat-cadre officers, I will prefer to get the probe done by own agency in the state” .

Ramdev was allotted 21 acres of prime land near Sadhupul in Solan district by the Dhumal government in 2010 to set up a fruit processing unit, a herbal garden, besides an ayurvedic and medicines manufacturing plant of Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust, which he heads .

Virbhadra Singh government on return to power in 2012 cancelled the land deal and took possession of the land, just hours before yoga guru could launch his venture.

The state high court later had ordered the state government to maintain a status quo after ramdev’s trust filed a petition challenging the government order for forcible takeover of the property given by the earlier government.