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VB files challan against former Punjab deputy CM Soni in DA case
Soni was arrested in July for allegedly amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income between 2016 and 2022
Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) on Thursday filed a chargesheet in a local court against former deputy chief minister Om Parkash Soni in a disproportionate assets case.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP), Vigilance, Amritsar, Varinder Singh Sandhu said, “The challan has been submitted in the court of additional sessions judge (ASJ) Randhir Verma.”
Soni, who is in Amritsar Central Jail, was arrested from Chandigarh by the vigilance’s Amritsar-range team on July 10 for allegedly amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income following an eight-month-long probe. After his arrest, a local court had granted his two-day remand to the vigilance team. However, Soni got himself admitted to a private hospital after complaining of uneasiness.
Soni was released from the hospital on July 17 and was then sent on two-day custody of vigilance.
A complaint was filed with the vigilance bureau regarding the disproportionate assets case against OP Soni in October last year. Following eight-month investigations, the VB registered a case under Sections 13 (1) (b) and 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act against him.
The VB said it analysed his sources of income and expenditure during the period from April 2016 to March 2022. Soni and his family had an income of ₹4.52 crore while their expenditure was ₹12.48 crore, which was 176% ( ₹7.96 crore) more than his known sources of income. He had amassed properties in the name of his wife Suman Soni, and son Raghav Soni, the VB added.
