Disproportionate Assets Case Against Himachal CM Virbhadra Singh

The CBI registered a disproportionate assets case against Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh (Photo: Twitter/@virbhadrasingh)

CBI registered a disproportionate assets case against Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Saturday and carried out raids at 11 places in the state. These included his residence in Shimla and in Delhi.

The developments came on the day Singh’s daughter was getting married.

According to sources in Shimla, the searches started at around 7.55 in the morning soon after Singh had left his residence in the city for the wedding.

The agency has been carrying out an inquiry against Singh and his family members for allegedly amassing wealth of Rs 6.1 crore disproportionate to his known sources of income while serving as Union Minister of Steel.

Sources said the preliminary enquiry against Singh, and others regarding alleged possession of disproportionate assets, has been converted into a Regular Case under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

CBI sources said that the preliminary inquiry was against Singh, his wife Pratibha Singh, son Vikramaditya Singh, daughter Aparajita Singh and an LIC agent, Anand Chauhan.

He allegedly received an unexplained income of Rs 6.1 crore during the 2009-11 period when he was serving as the Minister of Steel in the UPA Government.

The 18-member raiding team arrived at the Chief Minister’s residence in five vehicles, minutes after Singh and his family members left for the marriage of his daughter. The Chief Minister and his family members, who were not present in the house at the time of the raid, arrived after the wedding, but did not speak to media persons waiting outside the residence.

Senior officers, Ministers and Congress leaders reached his residence soon after the raid. Reacting to the developments, Suresh Bharadwaj of the BJP and party spokesperson Ganesh Dutt demanded the immediate resignation of Virbhadra Singh.