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Charge-sheet filed against Amarinder

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Vigilance Bureau has filed a charge-sheet, before a court in Ludhiana district, naming former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and 35 others, as accused in the multi-crore Ludhiana City Centre scam.

The case is related to allegations of siphoning of funds, kickbacks, misappropr iation and gross violations in allowing a infrastructure project during the previous Congress Government in the State.

Through the district attorney, the Bureau presented a 106-page document before the District and Sessions judge, G.K. Rai, charging Capt Singh and members of his family with accepting major amounts as kickbacks. Capt Singh’s son, son-in-law, close friend and former Minister for Housing and Urban Development, figure in the charge sheet, which has listed 152 witnesses.

While the FIR had mentioned only 19 individuals, the number of accused in the charge-sheet has increased to 36. Former president of the state unit of the Congress, former Media Adviser to the Chief Minister, former Finance Minister, some other relatives of the Chief Minister, including his mother, have not been named in the charge-sheet.

The Bureau has accused former Minister, Jagjit Singh and former Chairman of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust, Paramjit Singh Sibia, of accepting bribes in granting major “illegal” concessions and violating norms, while allocating the project to a company “Today Homes”, whose owners, their family members and directors have also been charged.

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Charge-sheet filed against Amarinder

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