M A I N   N E W S

Dhumal flaunts forensic evidence against ex-CM
Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service

The contentious CD The telephonic conversations allegedly took place in 1989-90. An IPS officer is said to have recorded the conversation. The CD that first surfaced in 2007 was of 20 minutes’ duration. The CD had strung together conversations recorded over several days. The conversations were allegedly between the then CM, his wife and the then director, industries, Mahender Lal. Conversations recorded dealt with transfer of money.

Shimla, August 4
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today claimed that the Central Forensic Laboratory at Chandigarh had authenticated the voice in the controversial CD as that of the present Union Minister of Steel, Virbhadra Singh, even as the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau registered an FIR against the former CM and his wife, among other people, under section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

“While Mahender Lal had never denied that it was his voice in the CD, both Virbhadra Singh and his wife had filed affidavits in the court stating that the voice was not theirs,” said Dhumal. “It is Virbhadra Singh who had moved the court (doubting the authenticity of the CD) following which the investigations were held,” he held.

With by-elections to the Rohru and Jwali Assembly segments due, Congress called the government’s move a ‘poll gimmick’ and accused Dhumal of launching a political vendetta. “ The BJP government in the state remembers the CD every time there is an election around the corner,” said a sarcastic Virbhadra Singh.

The Vigilance Bureau, after receiving the go-ahead from the state Home Department, registered the FIR on a complaint by retired IAS officer SM Katwal late last night.