Punjab Vigilance Bureau arrests Congress leader Sadhu Singh in corruption case

|HT|

In a major crackdown by Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann-led government, the state's Vigilance Bureau (VB) has arrested senior Congress leader and former minister, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, in a corruption case. Dharamsot's arrest was made in the early hours on Tuesday. He had served as minister for forest and social welfare department in the cabinet of former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh. Along with him, a local journalist, Kamaljit Singh, who was allegedly working as an aide, was also arrested. The development comes more than a month after Mann had warned action against the Congress leader.

Confirming the details, a Vigilance Bureau official said that both the people were held under charges of corruption. The bureau had collected many proofs against the ex minister when they last week arrested a divisional forest officer, Gurnampreet Singh, and another individual, Harminder Singh Hummi, who is said to have paid huge bribes to Dharamsot.

Hummi was paying bribe to Dharamsot via Kamaljeet. Pertinently, Sadhu was indicted in a scholarship scam by an IAS officer, Kirpa Shankar Saroj, during Captain Amarinder’s tenure, but was given a "clean chit”.

However, there was ample evidence of his involvement in corruption in the forest and social welfare departments, sources said.

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