Badal (Muktsar), July 25
Continuing its campaign against former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, the Vigilance Bureau officials today carried out search of his ancestral house here after securing a search warrant from a Kharar court in a case registered against Mr Badal, members of his family and other associates under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The Vigilance Bureau sleuths, who conducted the search of the ancestral house of Mr Badal for the first time today, were accompanied by engineers and other technical staffers of various state government departments. While the sleuths searched every nook and corner of the palatial house, the technical staffers, carried out various measurements of the house apart from counting various household goods, including the air-conditioners. The sleuths also prepared rough sketches of the house.

Though Mr Baljinder Singh Grewal, SSP (Vigilance), Bathinda range, who headed the team, comprising more than 24 personnel, said that search report was yet to prepared, the sleuths of the bureau, who remained in the house for more than three hours, failed to find any incriminating item at the place.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Akali workers, who have been camping at Badal’s house since yesterday, raised slogans against Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and the Punjab Government when the vigilance sleuths, accompanied by Mr Amrik Singh Waraich, SP (D), Muktsar, reached the house. Later, the workers burnt an effigy of the Chief Minister. They kept raising slogans while the search was on.

Meanwhile, the sleuths of the Vigilance Bureau, who carried out the search of the ancestral house of Mr Parkash Singh Badal today, also carried out the search of the residential premises of his brother, Mr Gurdas Badal, despite the fact that they were not having any search warrant from any court for the same.

Though a section of Akali workers, who have been camping here, first resisted the move of the vigilance sleuths to carry out the search of Mr Gurdas Badal’s house, they agreed for the same later when they were told by the Vigilance Bureau officials that they would carry out the search after securing fresh warrants for the purpose from the Kharar-based court.

Mr Jaspal Singh, DSP (Vigilance Bureau), a member of the team, claimed that the premises, where Mr Gurdas Badal had been putting up for the past many years, was actually owned by Mr Parkash Singh Badal. He added that any member of the family of Mr Badal failed to show any document which could establish the fact that Mr Gurdas Badal was the owner of the premises where he had been living.

NEW DELHI: A team of Punjab’s Vigilance Bureau today raided the official residence of Member of Parliament Sukhbir Singh Badal, a day after the search of one of his offices in the Capital.

Scores of Punjab Vigilance sleuths searched the 12 Safdarjung Road house of Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal, who faces corruption charges.

The crackdown is part of investigations into the alleged corruption when his father Parkash Singh Badal was the Punjab Chief Minister.

The sleuths also raided the residence of Krishna Kumar, a close confident of the SAD MP in Vasant Vihar.

Regretting today’s Vigilance action, Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal said raids at an official residence were “unwarranted”.