CHANDIGARH: A day after the state vigilance bureau issued a summons to the Congress candidate for the Ludhiana (West) assembly seat Bharat Bhushan Ashu in connection with an alleged Rs 2,400 crore scam, the Punjab government suspended Jagatpreet Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police (Vigilance) at Ludhiana, claiming that he issued the summons in connivance with Ashu to benefit him in the ensuing bypoll.The summons issued by Jagatpreet Singh directed Ashu to appear for questioning on Friday. The summons related to a First Information Report (FIR) registered on January 8 in which Ashu and others were accused of cheating, criminal breach of trust, forgery, and conspiracy. The investigation was transferred to the Vigilance Bureau owing to the suspected involvement of government officials.The alleged scam pertains to 4.7 acres of land given to New Senior Secondary School in Sarabha Nagar at a subsidised rate strictly for educational purposes by the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) decades ago. However, during investigations it came to light that parts of this land are being illegally used for commercial activities.Additional Chief Secretary, (Home) Alok Shekhar, issued the order which states that Jagatpreet Singh has been placed under suspension with immediate effect under Rule 4(1) (a) of the Punjab Civil Services (Punishment and Appeal) Rules, 1970, for his “grave misconduct and dereliction of duty”.Meanwhile, the state Congress leadership has trashed the allegations of a nexus between Ashu and the suspended police officer.Calling it a “a calculated attempt to intimidate” Ashu ahead of the Ludhiana West bypoll, senior Congress leader and leader of the opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said, “It’s clear that the AAP government first tried to use state machinery to scare Ashu into silence. Summons were issued to him by the Vigilance Bureau just weeks before polling—not as part of any genuine investigation, but as a crude, desperate tactic to gain political advantage.”Bajwa questioned the intent behind the timing, calling it a “desperate, dictatorial move” and a gross misuse of power. “This is not governance; this is vendetta politics at its worst,” he said.”When their intimidation attempt backfired and public backlash intensified, the AAP shifted gears in a bizarre U-turn. In an unbelievable twist, Vigilance Bureau SSP Jagatpreet Singh—who had issued the summons to Ashu—was suddenly suspended,” he said.
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