Punjab's ex-forest minister Dharamsot held on graft charges; Congress terms it 'vendetta'
The Hindu
Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring termed the arrest "political vendetta"
The Punjab Vigilance Bureau arrested former State minister and Congress leader Sadhu Singh Dharamsot on corruption charges in the early hours of Tuesday, official sources said.
Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring termed the arrest "political vendetta" and asked Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to let the law take its course and not resort to "kangaroo court justice".
The social welfare and forest minister in the previous Congress government was arrested from Amloh. A local journalist, who was said to be working as his aide, has also been held in this case, sources said.
Mr. Dharamsot's arrest came just hours ahead of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's visit to Punjab. The former Congress chief visited the house of Sidhu Moosewala in Mansa on Tuesday to express condolences to the slain singer's family.
A few days earlier, district forest officer (DFO) Guramanpreet Singh and contractor Harminder Singh Hummy were arrested in a corruption case.
Both of them are learnt to have provided details of the alleged wrongdoings in the forest department when Mr. Dharamsot was the minister, sources said.
Punjab Vigilance Bureau's Chief Director Varinder Kumar said that during questioning of the DFO and the contractor, it came to the fore that the former minister was allegedly involved in corruption.