Chief judicial magistrate Radhika Puri has sent Jagandeep Singh Dhillon, former district manager, Punjab State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited (PUNSUP), who is one of the accused in the ₹2,000-crore foodgrain transportation scam, involving former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, to three-day vigilance bureau (VB) custody on Friday.
Dhillon was lodged in the Ludhiana Central Jail on judicial remand. According to VB officials, Dhillon had previously obtained anticipatory bail from the high court on September 18, 2023. However, the Supreme Court set aside the bail order on July 16 this year. Since then, Dhillon had been absent from duty and was placed under suspension by the department. The vigilance had been on the lookout for him ever since. Dhillon had surrendered himself in the sessions court, Ludhiana, on September 23. His arrest was made, but the duty magistrate did not grant police remand and ordered to send him to jail on judicial remand.
The vigilance officials said a revision was filed in the sessions court, which was accepted on October 16. Additional sessions judge Amrinder Singh Shergill had ordered the superintendent of Central Jail, Ludhiana, to produce Dhillon before the court on October 18. On Friday, after arguments the court remanded him to three-day VB custody for questioning.
An FIR was registered under Sections 409, 467, 420, and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, along with Sections 7 and 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, at the VB Police Station, Ludhiana Range, against former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu and other accused on August 16, 2022.
{{/usCountry}}An FIR was registered under Sections 409, 467, 420, and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, along with Sections 7 and 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, at the VB Police Station, Ludhiana Range, against former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu and other accused on August 16, 2022.
{{/usCountry}}According to the vigilance bureau officials, Dhillon, as a member of the district tender committee, during the period 2020-21, failed to verify the tenders of certain contractors involved in the scam. He allegedly colluded with these contractors, facilitating the allotment of tenders in exchange for bribes. Additionally, he violated clause 12 (j) of the State Custom Milling Policy by transferring foodgrains from the shops of commission agents Krishan Lal and Anil Jain to the rice shellers of their relatives, in contravention of established procedures. It was further revealed that Lal had recovered over 2,000 jute bags from other states, which were used to transport the paddy. Dhillon, in collusion with co-accused Surinder Berry, the then district manager of PUNGRAIN, allegedly used the influence of former minister Ashu, to divert paddy from the grain markets of Lalton and Dhandran villages in Ludhiana district to the Ludhiana Central markets instead of the Kila Raipur centre. This manipulation was reportedly done to extract large bribes from rice millers.