Punjab Vigilance Bureau files charge sheet against Ex-Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu and two others for foodgrain transportation tender scam.
The Vigilance Bureau on 22 August arrested Bharat Bhushan Ashu who was a former minister of food and civil supplies from Ludhiana for improper issuing of tender. The Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Monday filed a 1,556-page charge sheet under Section 173 of the CrPC in the court of additional district and sessions judge Ajit Atri against former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu and two others for ₹2,000-crore foodgrain tender scam.
Foodgrain Tender Scam
Every year, the Punjab government opens a tender for the acquisition and transportation of food grains. Tell Ram that he met Ashu through his personal assistant, Meenu Malhotra, to get tenders for the 2020–21 season and asked him to meet Rakesh Kumar Singla, Deputy Director, Food and Civil Supplies. At that time, RK Singla was Chairman of the Chief Vigilance Committee for tenders.
A mega investigation into a 2,500-crore scam involving the acquisition of crops like paddy and wheat by the Punjab government in 2020 with the aid of Congress minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu has revealed that Activas, motorcycles, and Indica cars were being used to ferry sacks of food grains between mandis and flour mills. After that, it was billed to the state treasury against mandatory commercial vehicles. Some officials said that Telu Ram was given ₹25 crores by Ashu’s department for the said work. To complete the transportation, the lists of vehicles submitted by the Ashu contained registration numbers for cars, motorcycles, and scooters.
Filing of Chargesheet in Scam
FIR logged on August 16 under
- Sections 420,409,467,468,420 and 120 B of IPC
- Section 7,8,12,13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act
The complaint was filed by Gurpreet Singh against Bharat Bhushan Ashu and two others.
Other things in Case
Vigilance officials said that an investigation into the scam was underway and a supplementary charge sheet will be filed as per the probe’s progress. It is just impossible on earth or heaven to transport sacks of wheat meant for the public on scooters, Indicas, and motorcycles. But the officers from Ashu’s department were directly involved in this scam.
The district tender allotment committee should have rejected the technical bid of the concerned contractors as per the rules, which was not done. But the concerned officials or employees, in connivance with each other, have committed this fraud in the labor cartage and transport tenders for the transportation of food grains in these grain markets, on the basis of which this case has been registered against the above-mentioned accused.
The role of other government officers or employees of the department would be probed during the investigation of the case as alleged in the complaint in this regard.
He is currently in a Patiala jail, and the Punjab and Haryana high courts have already dismissed his bail application. Further accused are submitted in this case by the bureau.
