Delhi businessman sent in judicial custody

Ludhiana, May 24 (UNI) A local court today remanded Delhi based businessman Chetan Gupta, an accused in the multicrore Ludhiana City Centre scam in 14-day judicial custody.

Gupta, who was arrested from New Delhi on May 17, was produced before Judicial Magistrate Kuldip Singh by the state Vigilance Bureau here. The Magistrate sent him in judicial custody till June 7.

The Vigilance Bureau had recovered a pen drive and a phone memory card from Gupta that the Bureau claimed provided vital information on the hawala transactions of former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and his family members. Capt Singh, along with his former ministerial colleague Choudhry Jagjit Singh and 16 others, is the main accused in the City Centre scam that was probed by the Vigilance Bureau and subsequently a case was registered in March this year after the SAD-BJP government came to power in Punjab.

The names that the Bureau claimed that are mentioned in the computerised phone book are those of -- Capt Singh, his son Raninder, mother Mohinder Kaur, sister Harminder Kumari and brother-in-law and former External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh.

The Bureau has claimed that Gupta was the main conduit for sending the ill-gotten money of Capt Singh and his family members abroad through Hawala channels.

Gupta was also grilled by the Enforcement Directorate in the infamous Oil-for-Food scam in Iraq.

Capt Singh and Choudhry Jagjit Singh have already obtained anticipatory bail in the City Center case. So far five persons including Gupta have been arrested by the Bureau in this case.

The Ludhiana City Center project was executed by Today Homes and Infrastructure under the guidance of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had at the fag end of last year alleged that money running into crores had 'exchanged hands' and Capt Singh was directly involved in this multi crore scam.

Capt Singh on his part has claimed that he is being framed in the case and it is part of a political vendetta drive of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, against whom he had got a disproportionate assets case registered.

UNI