Congress leaders seek CBI probe into sand, liquor, write to Capt

Senior Congress leaders and legislators today urged the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to order a CBI probe into the sand and liquor mining contracts allotted during the last ten years of the Akali-BJP regime

Chandigarh: Senior Congress leaders and legislators today urged the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to order a CBI probe into the sand and liquor mining contracts allotted during the last ten years of the Akali-BJP regime.

In a letter to the Chief Minister, the party leaders said, the massive revenue generated by the sand and liquor auction recently should be enough reason for the government to probe as why the contracts were allotted for such low amount during the Akali-BJP regime.

The signatories to the letter include Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu, MLAs Rakesh Pandey, Surinder Dawer, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Kuldeep Singh, Sanjay Tawlar, PCC general secretary Pawan Dewan, and the DCC urban and rural presidents Gurpreet Singh Gogi and Gurdev Singh Lapran.

The letter pointed out, the highest money generated during the Akali-BJP regime was Rs 40 crores only, while the Congress government generated revenue to the tune of Rs 1026 crores for relatively lesser number of mines. Similarly, the liquor auction during the Congress regime also fetched huge amount as compared to the revenue generated during the Akali-BJP regime.

The Congress leaders said, it is a common knowledge that the Akali-BJP leaders looted and robbed the state in all ways whether it was sand mining or liquor trade. “Each and every auction by the Akali-BJP regime needs to be probed and the losses to the state exchequer be established and responsibility fixed”, the letter said.

They suggested that the Akali-BJP leaders should better introspect than blame the Congress. “If they (the Akali-BJP) think by leveling false and baseless allegations against the Congress regime they will divert the attention and get away with all their sins of omission and commission they are miserably mistaken and they must be held accountable for it”, the party leaders urged the Chief Minister.