M A I N   N E W S

PSEB raids draw a blank
Our Correspondent

Jalandhar, February 7
Political tempers ran high in Punjab today in the aftermath of the filing of a criminal defamation case by the caretaker Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, against the Punjab Chief Minister yesterday as the Enforcement wing of the PSEB conducted selective raids on factories and the residence of Mr Dhumal and his relatives here even as the CM has ordered the raids to be stopped. The Dhumal family, however, described the raids as politically motivated.

The move, seen as an attempt to gather some proof of alleged irregularities being committed by the Dhumal family, however, virtually proved to be a futile exercise as PSEB officials returned empty-handed.

A special team of the Enforcement wing of the PSEB raided the premises of Sant Brass Engineering Works, the Crescent Engineering Corporation and Punjab Pipe Fittings Company late in the afternoon. It inspected energy meters and the connected load, which was found to be in order. Meanwhile, another team raided the residence of Mr Dhumal in the Central Town locality here.

The raids continued for about three hours simultaneously. Thakur Ganpat Rai, Chairman of all three factories, alleged that the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, was using every tactic to defame the Dhumal and Thakur families to suit his party’s interests in the coming Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh.

Hundreds of BJP workers, led by a former Punjab minister, Mr Manoranjan Kalia, reached the spot. a police party reached the factory premises following reports of heated exchanges between Mr Kalia and PSEB officials. The Director (Enforcement), Mr K.S. Bara, however, claimed that these raids were being conducted as a routine exercise. Interestingly, he failed to reveal the names of other factories, situated in the industrial area, where such raids were conducted.

CHANDIGARH: Capt Amarinder Singh has directed the Chairman of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) to immediately stop the raids being conducted on the industrial units owned by Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and his immediate family members at Jalandhar, an official spokesman of the Punjab Government said tonight.

Earlier, Mr Dhumal condemned the raids by the PSEB on his family business premises in Jalandhar.

Talking to TNS, he said the raids were borne out of political vendetta. “It is now for the Congress high command to rein in its Chief Minister. If this is the manner in which the family of a Chief Minister of a neighbouring state is treated, one can well imagine the plight of the common man in Punjab,” he said.