CHANDIGARH: The former Chief Minister of Punjab Amarinder Singh has accused the Vigilance Bureau of using coercion to make him admit to fabricated data and evidence to frame him, members of his family, former colleagues in the government and close associates in the Ludhiana City Centre scandal.

Talking to reporters here on Tuesday, Capt. Singh discounted the claims of the Vigilance team that he had not co-operated during the questioning in Patiala. Emphasising that he was committed to cooperate with the investigations, Capt. Singh said he had only refused to corroborate the fabricated matter, which, he alleged, was sourced from the doctored computer and the pen drive belonging to a Delhi-based businessman, Chetan Gupta, who had been arrested previously in the case.

Capt. Singh said Mr. Gupta was not even remotely involved in any aspect of the case, but was picked up as both families were close to each other for generations. The former Chief Minister alleged that Mr. Gupta was tortured and made to sign documents to implicate his (Capt. Singh's) entire family, including his 84-year-old mother, son, daughter, brother and other relatives in the case.

To substantiate his previous stance that the Vigilance probe could not be trusted, Capt. Singh said that while he was in Kathmandu recently, the investigating agency had claimed to have unearthed information about his property, bank accounts and lockers in other countries. However, it backed off when he asked the officers to provide him the list of the same so that he could petition the High Court for appointment of a Court Officer to effect the recovery.

Capt. Singh reiterated that the investigations against him on charges of alleged corruption and foreign currency transactions, including hawala deals, should be handed over to Central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate, the Income Tax Department or the Central Bureau of Investigation.

He said the proforma presented to him for providing details was of no consequence. On March 24, Capt. Singh and 18 others, including a former Minister and State Congress president, were booked by the Vigilance on charges of corruption and cheating in this major real estate project. The High Court had subsequently stayed the arrest of Capt. Singh and his MP wife, Parneet Kaur, till July 31. Last week, their son Raninder Singh was also granted bail.

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