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Jang-e-Azadi memorial probe: Ajit group editor Hamdard skips vigilance summons
Ajit Group editor-in chief Barjinder Singh Hamdard Friday skipped Punjab vigilance bureau summons regarding probe into the alleged misuse of funds during execution of ₹315-crore project at Kartarpur in Jalandhar
Ajit Group editor-in chief Barjinder Singh Hamdard on Friday skipped Punjab vigilance bureau (VB) summons regarding probe into the alleged misuse of funds during execution of ₹315-crore Jang-e-Azadi Memorial at Kartarpur in Jalandhar. This is the second time that he has skipped to appear before the VB in a fortnight.
In the summons issued on June 10, the VB had asked Hamdard to appear in person on June 16 along with reply to a 17-pont questionnaire sent to him by the probe agency.
Hamdard - who was instrumental in the conception and construction of the project since 2012 and quit as member secretary of the Jang-e-Azadi Memorial Foundation and as its managing committee president on April 10 - sent reply to the posers through his manager to the VB’s Jalandhar office.
The Ajit Group editor had moved the Punjab and Haryana high court after VB’s May 29 summon, demanding that the probe be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). On June 1, the high court directed the VB to send a questionnaire to Hamdard in writing and not to summon him. The VB has now given Hamdard two weeks’ time to file fresh reply by July 3. Hamdard said the ruling AAP was pressurising VB to issue notices against him. “It is strange that the VB has issued fresh notice for July 3 a few hours after I submitted my response to the questionnaire. It is more surprising that the VB has gone through my response and investigated it before terming them unsatisfactory,” he said. He added that the VB was violating the orders of the Punjab and Haryana high court by summoning him to appear in person. “In my reply, I have told vigilance that I resigned from all positions of the memorial on April 10 due to which no record is available with me. I can only respond to VB questions after seeing all the records,” he said.
Reply to questionnaire unsatisfactory: VB
A VB official said they received the reply from Hamdard but it was “unsatisfactory” as he failed to give elaborative answers to any of the questions. “In his reply, Hamdard has stated that he had resigned from all the managing posts related to the memorial. At the same time, he is seeking more time to respond to these questions,” the official said.
The questionnaire focused on the verification of source report regarding Jang-e-Azadi Memorial project, timeline of funds allocated to its foundation committee by respective government, tendering process adopted, procurement of furniture and other equipment and infrastructure used in the project, the official said. Senior superintendent of police (VB) Jalandhar range, Rajeshwar Singh Sidhu said Hamdard has been asked to submit fresh reply by July 3. “The reply (from Hamdard) was not as per the record pertaining to the project,” the SSP said.
Based on complaints of alleged misuse of funds in the construction of the memorial, the Jalandhar VB initiated the probe in March. Besides confiscating official records from drawings to funds sanctioned by the state government from 2014-16, the VB questioned the memorial’s managing committee secretary. Spread over 25 acres at Kartarpur, the mega project was initiated by Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP government.
Leaders of opposition parties, including the Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and SAD (Sanyukt) had met in Jalandhar on June 2 as a mark of solidarity towards Hamdard. The opposition leaders gave a clarion call for unity and also supported the resolution passed against the government in this regard. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party slammed opposition leaders for infringing into a free and fair probe into the construction of the memorial built with taxpayers’ money.
