Audio clip row: Fauja Singh Sarari, ‘aide’ hold closed-door meet

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 14

As “friends-turned-foes” Food Processing and Horticulture Minister Fauja Singh Sarari and his “aide”, Tarsem Lal Kapoor, held a closed-door meeting in Sector 39 here till late last night, the former has got some breather.

According to the party sources, no action against the minister is expected till the return of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann from his Germany trip. The CM will return on September 17.

Meanwhile, investigation into the veracity of the audio clip has already started.

When asked about the issue, Housing and Urban Development Minister Aman Arora said to date, no police complaint about anyone demanding bribe or conspiring to trap someone for gains had been lodged. “Till the time it is proven that the voice on the audio clip is of Sarari, there has to be status quo on the issue. Looking into the matter and taking a decision is the CM’s prerogative. He is aware of the facts… let him come back and he will decide,” Arora added.

Kapoor, a close aide of Sarari, had put the audio clip of the minister on social media, wherein the minister was reportedly discussing ways to trap foodgrain transporters and later extract money from them. The minister, however, claimed that Kapoor was aggrieved he did not help him in a case registered against his nephew, Jonny Kapoor, for causing insult to the national flag.

Information gathered by The Tribune reveals that the duo had a closed-door meeting at the minister’s residence till 11.30 pm yesterday. Kapoor reportedly arrived in a Swift car and was accompanied by some other persons, who are trying to broker peace between the two sides. Both Sarari and Kapoor did not respond to calls.

Notably, just before the meeting, both sides had been summoned by the party top brass here. Sources say Sarari insisted that he was innocent and the audio was doctored, while Kapoor had admitted to leaking the clip.

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