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Food grain transportation scam: VB arrests Ashu’s aide Sunny Bhalla
Bhalla is a confidante of former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, who has already been arrested in the ₹2,000-crore scam.
The Vigilance Bureau arrested Congress leader and Ward 54 councillor Gagandeep alias Sunny Bhalla over alleged irregularities in transporting foodgrains on Wednesday.
Bhalla is a confidante of former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, who has already been arrested in the ₹2,000-crore scam. Sunny had joined the bureau’s investigation regarding irregularities in grain-lifting tenders in August.
Conforming the arrest, Ludhiana Range senior superintendent of police (SSP, vigilance) Ravinder Pal Singh Sandhu said that during the investigation it was found that Bhalla helped Ashu and his aides – contractor Telu Ram and a commission agent Krishan Lal Dhoti Wala – in carrying out the tender scam .
“We will produce Bhalla in court on Thursday and seek remand for further questioning,” he said. This is the fourth arrest in the case. The three main accused in the case – dismissed deputy director of food and civil supplies department Rakesh Kumar Singla, and Ashu’s personal assistants (PAs) Meenu Pankaj Malhotra, and Inderjit Singh Indi – are on the run.
On October 10, the Vigilance Bureau had searched Singla’s residence in Rajguru Nagar Ludhiana, and recovered cash.
The Vigilance Bureau had also summoned him for questioning earlier, but his replies to the queries were “unsatisfactory.”
The meteoric rise of Sunny Bhalla
The son of a retired professor, Sunny Bhalla’s career witnessed a meteoric rise, after he was associated with former cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu.
Bhalla started his career as an employee of a noted T-shirt manufacturing company in late 90s. By the turn of the millennium, he had managed to establish proximity with former Union minister Manish Tewari, who was then contesting the Lok Sabha elections in 2004. It was around that time that he came in contact with Ashu and he became his right-hand man.
He aspired to become a councillor, but his municipal ward was reserved for women during the 2012 elections. Sunny supported his wife, who won the MC polls in 2012. Later, in 2018, he contested the elections and became the MC councillor of Ward 54. As a key member of Team Ashu, Bhalla was appointed the secretary of the Ludhiana District Cricket Association (LDCA).
A passionate cricketer, he was a well-known face in the club, which has rich businessmen and the crème de la crème of society as its members. A resident of the posh South City locality, he is fond of premium cars. It is was an oft repeated grouse that during the Congress regime, no development work could not be approved without Sunny’s nod.
Due to his proximity with Ashu he was also the target of many leaders, both within the party and other rival political groups. It was also alleged that the tiles being laid on the footpaths and roadsides across the city under the smart city project were produced in his factory unit.
