Chandigarh, Sep 22 (IANS) :The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches in Delhi, Chandigarh, Mohali and Ludhiana in connection with alleged scams in Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) and the related money laundering, an official said on Tuesday.
Searches were conducted at GMADA office and office of Vikas Garg, Housing and Urban Development Principal Secretary, to unearth evidence related to alleged multiple scams, including GMADA auctions and waiver of External Development Charges (EDC) and interest charges due from builders and developers, the ED said in a statement.
The searches were conducted in connection with some FIRs registered by probe agencies.
Earlier, Punjab Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Kewal Singh Dhillon launched a sharp attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the state, saying the corruption prevailing in GMADA has been exposed by none other than its own Member of Parliament (MP).
“The admission by the AAP MP regarding bribery and the exploitation of the system by the bureaucracy in GMADA is clear evidence that the Mann government is completely steeped in corrupt functioning,” Dhillon said in a statement last month.
He said that the fact that an AAP Member of Parliament himself has acknowledged corruption in GMADA “is clear evidence of the government’s corrupt functioning”.
Dhillon added that corruption is not limited to GMADA alone, but is rampant across Punjab.
“This corruption and loot have broken the backs of common people, traders and the poor in the state,” he said.
He alleged that no work is being done in the state’s tehsils without paying bribes.
He added that former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had claimed that Rs 20,000 crore would come into the state exchequer from mining, but the revenue remained limited to just Rs 600 crore.
“Where did the remaining Rs 19,400 crore go? The people of Punjab are well aware of the answer,” he said.
Dhillon said the AAP government, which claims to follow a policy of “zero tolerance” towards corruption, must answer how it can continue to govern when its own MP describes government institutions as hubs of loot.
Such a government, the Punjab BJP President said, has no moral right to remain in power.
He added that the people of Punjab will hold the AAP government accountable for its loot and corruption and will oust this “deeply dishonest government” from power in 2027.
