CBI probe sought in foodgrain scam

Ludhiana, August 12

Bikram Singh Sidhu, a city lawyer, has demanded a CBI inquiry into the alleged foodgrain scam worth crores of rupees in the state.

Thousands of sacks of foodgrains were found missing from godowns of Jandiala Guru in Amritsar, Jalandhar, Mohali, Hoshiarpur, Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala, Ludhiana and Ropar.

“The minister concerned, along with his associates, had encouraged illegal sale of the produce and did not hesitate to pocket the taxpayers’ money,” Sidhu alleged.

He said having ignored these activities in the past over four years, now the minister had suspended two department officials following the food scam worth Rs 20 crore at the PUNSUP godown in Jandiala Guru.

“Registration of an FIR against the employees is nothing but an eyewash. What happened to previous scams wherein wheat and paddy were procured from states such as UP, Bihar and Rajasthan in 2017 and 2018 on nominal rates and sold in Punjab at MSP.

Sidhu said Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh had failed to check corruption in the state that had affected people in a big way. —TNS