Read how Govt Officer's complaint led to dismissal & arrest of Punjab Healh Minister
Babushahi Bureua
Chandigarh, May 24, 2022: In a suprising and swift action taken by Bhagwant Mann government, Punjab Health Minister Dr. Vijay Singla was sacked from Punjab cabinet and arrested by state police on the charges of corruption.
The Punjab Police arrested Dr. Vijay Singla following Bhagwant Mann's order. In the FIR registered against Singla in Phase 8 police station in Mohali, he is accused of demanding commision and bribe through his OSD Pradeep Kumar.
Superintendent Engineer Rajinder Singh posted in Mohali complained that a month ago, the health minister called him room number 203 of Punjab Bhawan. OSD Pradeep Kumar was also present there.
SE mentioned that Dr. Vijay Singla was in hurry.
"Before leaving the minister said that understand what Pradeep will say, I am saying that. After saying this the minister left. Following this, OSD Pradeep Kumar present in the room said 41 crore construction allotment has been issued from your office and 17 crore has also been paid to the contractors in the month of March. In total, it becomes 58 crores, of which 2% i.e. one crore 16 lakh rupees should be given as commission," SE Rajinder Singh stated in his statement.
Singh claimed that he immediately refused to the demand and asked to be sent back to his parent posting. The officer claimed that he told OSD that they can replace him with someone who is ready to pay the commission.
The officer further mentioned that on May 8, he recieved repeated calls from OSD Pradeep Kumar. Since he didnt give in to the pressure, he reportedly started threat that they will spoil his career.
SE mentioned that his retirement is due on November 30 this year.
According to the FIR, on May 20, Rs 10 lakh was demanded from SE Rajinder Singh and he was asked to pay a commission of 1% of further allotments.
Rajinder Singh further informed the police that on May 23, he again got a call from OSD Pradeep Kumar. He was called to the secretariat.
Singh shared that in the secretariat, the minister talked about giving Rs 5 lakhs to OSD Pradeep Kumar and threatening SE of spoiling his career.
The official reportedly recorded the conversation.When CM Bhagwant Mann got this information, he ordered the Mohali police to register a corruption case immediately and dismised Dr. Vijay Singla from the cabinet.