The Hindu : 'Chargesheets against Badal by month-end'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Oct 09, 2003

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'Chargesheets against Badal by month-end'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI OCT. 8. The Punjab Chief Minister, Amarinder Singh, said today that the Vigilance Bureau, which questioned the former Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal, earlier in the day in connection with properties allegedly owned by the Badals, was likely to file a chargesheet towards the end of the month.

At a press conference here, Mr. Amarinder Singh asserted that Mr. Badal was questioned at his house, a courtesy that was extended to a former Chief Minister.

The Chief Minister also announced that his Government would crack down on the people involved in the visa racket and the practitioners of female foeticide. Complaints of short-term marriages by Punjabi NRIs would also be looked into.

Mr. Amarinder Singh's statement follows the visa racket allegations against Shamsher Mehndi, brother of Punjabi pop singer Daler Mehndi. The Chief Minister, however, said police investigation was on and that the Government was not in a position to comment on allegations of Daler Mehndi's involvement.

Referring to the visa racket, Mr. Amarinder Singh said agents were duping the people of the State and that the police had been ordered to deal with such elements strongly. Similarly, following complaints from the former Union Minister, Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, and others, the Government had decided to crackdown on "shotgun marriages" — there have been several complaints of NRIs from Punjab marrying here and abandoning their wives soon after.

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