M A I N   N E W S

Pritpal questioned
Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 25
After Jagman Singh, the spotlight in the Ravi Sidhu case has shifted to ousted Secretary of the Punjab Public Service Commission Pritpal Singh who appeared before the vigilance investigators today for questioning on the “recruitment “ procedures followed by the commission.

Sources in the Vigilance Bureau said that the former PPSC Secretary was only questioned about various procedures followed by the commission. “It was not interrogation but only questioning about the functioning of the PPSC,” the sources said.

Though he was removed the day all members of the Commission came in delegation and met the Chief Secretary, Mr Y.S. Ratra, to complain against his “conduct”, and “punished” with a “prize posting” as the Subdivisional Magistrate of one of the important subdivisions of the state, his role in the bungling and corruption cases that have rocked the PPSC since March 25 has remained shrouded in mystery.

The questioning or interrogation of the former PPSC Secretary may see more skeletons tumbling out of the cupboards of the commission.

Accused by members of “burning the records of the commission”, he now finds himself figuring prominently in yet another “serious violation” of allegedly keeping weapons of PPSC Chairman Ravi Sidhu at his residence , a few of which were subsequently deposited with gun houses at Patiala and Ropar.

Under the stringent Arms Act, only the authorised person — the licensee —can put his or her weapons in safe custody with an authorised arms dealer or a police station. But in this case, investigations reveal, the weapons were removed from the residence of the then Secretary of the PPSC to the premises of arms dealers at Patiala and Ropar soon after Ravi Sidhu had landed in the vigilance net. Under the law no “unauthorised person” can keep or store “weapons belonging to someone else”.

The day the vigilance investigators swooped on Ravi Sidhu’s sector 39 house here, they also took away with them three firearms from his house — a 30.06 Springfield rifle, a shotgun and a .22 rifle — with 500 cartridges and 13 empties.

Sources in the Vigilance Bureau said they were still verifying whether the weapons deposited at the gun houses at Patiala and Ropar were “licensed or not” and if “licensed”, who were the rightful owners of the weapons.

The law does not allow anyone to have more than three firearms or weapons in his or her lawful custody, meaning that no one can get more than three arms licences.

The bureau and the Patiala and Ropar police are silent on these “five additional weapons “ which had allegedly remained in possession of the PPSC Secretary until after the registration of a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act on March 25 last.

Equally serious is who helped take these weapons to the arms dealers at Patiala and Ropar without any “authorisation” . The investigators are also yet to verify the authenticity of the “licences” for these five weapons and whether such “licences” were obtained by “concealing information” about other licences held by the PPSC Chairman.

MiG with 2 pilots missing

Tezpur (Assam), April 25
A MiG 29 aircraft of the Indian Air Force and its two pilots had been missing since April 20 from Darrang district in lower Assam, IAF sources said here today. The aircraft had taken off from an airbase in Sonitpur district for routine morning sortie and went missing when it was flying over Darrang district. The sources identified the missing pilots as Squadron Leader Khan and Flying Officer Tahiya. PTI