Uttarakhand official axed for links with Ponty

Uttarakhand minorities commission chairman Sukhdev Singh Namdhari, who was present during the shootout at a farmhouse in Delhi in which liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his brother were killed, was removed from his post on Tuesday.

Uttarakhand minorities commission chairman Sukhdev Singh Namdhari, who was present during the shootout at a farmhouse in Delhi in which liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his brother were killed, was removed from his post on Tuesday.

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The state government has ordered removal of Namdhari from the minorities panel in public interest after his integrity was found to be in doubt, state minorities welfare secretary MH Khan said.

Fourteen criminal cases, of which two are of serious nature, have come to surface against Namdhari during the course of investigations into his antecedents, he said.

Namdhari’s antecedents were being probed ever since his links with Chadha came to light after the farmhouse shootout during which the minorities panel chief was present along with his PSO, who allegedly shot at Ponty’s brother Hardeep in retaliation during the cross-fire.

Namdhari was appointed the state minorities commission chairman during the BJP regime in 2010 and his tenure was to expire next year. Earlier, chief minister Vijay Bahuguna had said that action would be taken against Namdhari soon.