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Sunday,
July 7, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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PPSC ex-Secy arrested Chandigarh, July 6 Pritpal Singh, a PCS officer, who was shifted after all members of the Commission came in a delegation to Chandigarh and met the Chief Secretary, Mr Y.S. Ratra, several weeks ago, was rewarded with Sub Divisional Magistrateship. The controversial PCS officer was alleged to be very close to the suspended Chairman of the PPSC, Mr Ravi Sidhu. It was at his residence that Ravi Sidhu had kept four or six weapons. After he landed in the Vigilance net on March 25, these weapons were surreptitiously taken to arms dealers at Patiala and Ropar and deposited there. During interrogation, some of the arrested examiners had pointed their fingers at the PPSC Secretary saying it was he who used to bring sheets to them and insisted on change in marks for “selected candidates”. Interestingly, the Vigilance Bureau had summoned him twice earlier but let him go after “formally questioning him on the working of the PPSC.” It was after a lot of hue and cry was raised in the media about allowing him to go scot free that the Vigilance Bureau was ultimately left with no choice but to formally arrest him today. A key player in the whole recruitment scam, Pritpal Singh managed on more than one occasion to get his transfers out of the PPSC stalled. He was also considered close to some influential members of the previous SAD-BJP Government. Pritpal Singh, who belongs to Patiala, is also known to have links with the top brass of the Punjab Government. That is why he after being shifted from the PPSC was given a “prize posting” which later, because of adverse criticism in the media, was changed to a lesser significant post. Unlike other suspects in the scam, his initial questioning by the Vigilance Bureau was reportedly handled with kid gloves. The arrest of Pritpal Singh has once again vindicated the stand of the Intelligence Wing which wanted him to be taken in custody several weeks ago. The intelligence held that Pritpal Singh was a much bigger fish than either Randhir Singh Gill , alias Dhira, or Jagman Singh, as it was he who was an accomplice of Ravi Sidhu. It was he who was charged with destroying the record of the commission in spite of protests from other members of the commission.It was he who had been denying members the right to convene and hold meetings maintaining that such meetings were not authorised by the Chairman. Certain insiders want that interrogation of Pritpal Singh should be given to some third agency as there was a general impression that his case had been soft-pedaled by the bureau earlier. The Additional Director-General of Police, Vigilance, Mr A. P. Pande, confirmed that Pritpal Singh had been arrested in connection with an FIR registered at Patiala. The case had been registered under several Sections of the IPC, including conspiracy, destroying record, cheating and fraud. The Vigilance men maintained that they had an eye on Pritpal Singh as he was in the “know of the whole scam”.  |
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Tota Singh’s confidant rounded up Moga, July 6 The councillor, popularly known as Prem Chakkiwala and a confidant of former Education Minister Tota Singh, was interrogated at his residence by the Vigilance team. DSP (Vigilance) Ramandeep Singh, who led the team, said here that Prem Chakkiwala had not been formally arrested but only questioned at the residence of the councillor in connection with the education scam case.
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