Amarinder's former media advisor hahal arrested by Punjab Police

Ludhiana, June 10 (UNI) Amid high drama the Punjab Police today arrested B I S Chahal, the high profile and controversial former media advisor to former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh.

Chahal was arrested under sections 307, 452, 447, 379, 148 and 149 of the IPC.

The case was registered at the Sadar police station here today on the complaint of one Harchand Singh, a resident of Daad village on Pakhowal road, who alleged that Chahal along with six others had threatened and beaten him in an attempt to take forcible possession of his three-acre land in Daad village, just on the outskirts of the city. The prime land in contention is worth crores of rupees.

Besides Chahal, the others arrested in the case are Kartar Singh and his three sons, Jagdish Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Jupinder Singh. Jagdish Singh's daughter is married to Chahal's son.

Two others, Harminder Singh and Iqbal Singh, the grandsons of Kartar Singh, are still at large.

Chahal was taken into custody by SP (City-II) Harish Kumar as soon as he emerged from the office of the Vigilance Bureau after his questioning in the multi-crore Ludhiana City Center case, in which Capt Singh is an accused.

Chahal had been granted anticipatory bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the City Center case. The court while staying the arrest of Chahal had stated that the state Vigilance Bureau should give a four-day notice to Chahal before arresting him in any case.

However, in this particular case it was the Punjab Police and not the Vigilance Bureau that took the former media advisor into custody. Chahal, who weilded considerable power during the capt Singh government, was completely taken aback when the SP assisted by his gunmen took hold of Chahal and put him into a waiting police gypsy and sped away to the Sadar police station.

Kartar Singh and his three sons were also taken into custody by the police just minutes after Chahal was taken to the police station.

Chahal's questioning by the Vigilance Bureau took place at around 1500 hrs and it lasted for an hour. He was questioned after the Bureau had completed questioning Raninder Singh and Raminder Singh, son and son-in-law of capt Singh respectively in the City Center scam case which was registered after the SAD-BJP government came to power in Punjab in March this year.

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