Sacked Punjab minister sent to 14-day judicial custody; says worked with honesty

A Mohali court on Friday sent to 14day judicial custody sacked Punjab minister Vijay Singla who said he worked with utmost sincerity has full faith in his party and will come out clean of corruption chargesBefore being taken to the court Singla told reporters that there may be a conspiracy from some outsider forces behind the episode leading to his sacking and arrestSingla 52 was sacked from the state Cabinet Tuesday over graft charges by Chief Minister Bhagwant MannHe held the health portfolio and was accused of demanding one per cent commission in tenders and purchases by his department Singla and his Officer on Special Duty OSD Pardeep Kumar were arrested by policeBoth were produced before the court of Ravtesh Inderjit Singh in Mohali after their threeday police remand ended on FridayAdvocate H S Dhanoa the counsel for Singla said police requested for the judicial remand of the former minister and his Pardeep He said the court fixed June 10 as the next date of hearing and they will be sent to the Rupnagar jailThe counsel further said both Singla and Pardeep have agreed to give their voice samplesWhen Singla was asked about the corruption allegations levelled against him before being taken to the court he told reporters I worked with utmost honesty in my departmentI have complete faith in my government my party police and judiciary We will come out clean said SinglaTo a question Singla said there was no conspiracy in the party However he said there can be a conspiracy of some outside forces On May 24 Singla on allegations against him had said It is a conspiracy and an attempt to defame the partySingla along with his OSD Pardeep Kumar who is said to be the former ministers relative were booked on a complaint by Superintending Engineer Rajinder Singh posted at Punjab Health System CorporationThe officer had alleged that they demanded Rs 116crore bribe from Rs 58 crore which included Rs 41 crore for construction works and Rs 17 crore as payment to contractors besides one per cent commission in government contractsThe complainant had also alleged that he was threatened that his career will be ruined and had said that he eventually agreed to pay Rs 5 lakh to avoid the mental harassmentThe complainant also made an audio recording of the conversation when he met Singla and Pardeep on May 23 CM Mann himself had announced Singlas removal from the Cabinet which was sworn in just two months ago after the Aam Aadmi Party stormed to power riding on the agenda of corruptionfree governanceMann had then said that Singla had admitted to his alleged wrongdoings Mann had said that his government would not allow corrupt practicesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever