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Ludhiana: BJP demands CBI probe into ‘storing of ration bags’ in school
Punjab BJP vice-president Praveen Bansal and Ludhiana BJP president Pushpinder Singhal met DC Varinder Sharma and demanded a CBi inquiry
The controversy surrounding the ‘storing of ration bags’ in classrooms of a local school refuses to die down.
On Tuesday, Punjab BJP vice-president Praveen Bansal and Ludhiana BJP president Pushpinder Singhal met deputy commissioner Varinder Sharma and demanded a CBI probe into the alleged storing of ration bags in a school at Haibowal.
The decision was taken after a team constituted by the district food and civil supplies department gave a ‘clean chit’ to Congress leader Baljinder Singh Sandhu in the matter.
Bansal along with other party workers had visited the school on August 27 and accused Sandhu, whose wife represents ward no 91 as councillor, and Congress MLA Rakesh Panday for illegally storing 4,000 gunny bags of ration in various classrooms of the school.
The next day District Congress Committee chief Ashwani Sharma and other party leaders slammed Bansal for levelling false allegations against Sandhu. As the matter escalated, food and civil supplies minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu ordered a probe into the matter.
On Tuesday, Bansal gave a pen drive to DC containing videos and written statements of Baljinder Singh Sandhu, the owner of the school from where ration bags were recovered, Congress District President Ashwani Sharma and food supply officers, Harveen Kaur and Sukhwinder Singh Gill.
Bansal said that there was a huge disparity between the statement of the Congress leader and the department officials.
“In a statement, Baljinder Singh had said that there were 450 ration bags kept in school, however, 4,000 ration bags were recovered from three classrooms of the school,” said Bansal.
“The next day, some councillors, including Ashwani Sharma, told the media that they received a total of 31,000 ration bags for the Northern Assembly constituency and there were 700 bags remaining at that time. On the other hand, district food controller Harveen Kaur said that a total of 20,000 bags were sent for the northern assembly. And on August 28, a total of 700 bags were recovered from two rooms during the investigation. I don’t know who is speaking the truth, we are demanding an impartial probe from an independent agency,” said Bansal.
On the other hand, district BJP chief Pushpinder Singhal said that no method was followed for distributing the ration. “The department is doing everything possible to save its employees and Congress leaders,” he said.
Singhal said that a delegation of BJP leaders will also meet cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu to bring out the truth behind the scam. Besides they will urge the Governor to initiate a CBI probe into the matter, he said.
