Amritsar, Oct 1 : Punjab's Vigilance Bureau conducted raids at the residence of Sarabdyal Singh, the personal assistant of former animal husbandry minister Gulzar Singh Ranike, and recovered cheques worth Rs nine lakh.
After obtaining search warrants from the court of law, VB sleuths broke open the locks of the house on Friday evening and seized nine cheques worth nearly Rs 9 lakh issued by the administration in the name of some Gram Panchayats of Attari constituency between 2008 and 2011 for development reasons, VB SSP Upinderjit Singh said.
The SSP said all the seized cheques have lost validity, as they were meant to be encashed six months after the date of issue, which has gone past.
Apart from the cheques, small quantities of US, Hong Kong and Singapore dollars were also recovered from Sarabdyal's residence, he said.
Moreover, during searches at the residence of Sarabdyal's relative Harjit Singh, VB sleuths seized rubber stamps of sarpanches (village headmen).
Singh said according to Government Revenue department documents, Sarabdyal's plush house in Rani Ka Bagh locality was purchased for Rs 55 lakh two years ago, but market value of the house at the time of buying was nearly Rs 1 crore.
Sarabdyal Singh is on the run after his alleged involvement in the scam of border area grants came to light. Criminal case was registered against him in the scam in Civil Lines police station in Amritsar three months ago.
Later, the case was transferred to VB after minister Gulzar Singh Ranike resigned few weeks ago.
The latest investigation showed nearly Rs 4 crore fraud allegedly by Sarabdyal Singh who embezzled grants by encashing 12 cheques meant for development works in Attari constituency through dummy bank accounts.
