NEW DELHI: Amid an eyeball to eyeball confrontation with the BJP over the arrest of Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, properties of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Jaswant Singh were raided at three places in Punjab by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a bank fraud case of over Rs 40.92 crore on Saturday.
The agency carried out searches at three places in Malerkotla town of Sangrur district, the ancestral hometown of the Amargarh MLA.
“Cash worth approximately Rs 16.57 lakh, around 88 foreign currency notes, some property documents, several bank accounts and other incriminating documents were recovered during the searches,” CBI spokesperson RC Joshi said here.
The CBI has booked Tara Corporation Ltd, renamed as Malaudh Agro Ltd, its then directors and guarantors Balwant Singh, Jaswant Singh, Kulwant Singh and Tejinder Singh, Tara Health Foods Ltd, through its directors, unknown public servants or private persons on the complaint of Bank of India.
ALSO READ: Why Is BJP Protecting Bagga, Asks AAP’s Atishi
The company was engaged in trading of DOC Rice Bran, DOC Mustard Cake, Cottonseed Cake, Maize, Bajra and other food grains, the agency said.
“The borrower firm was sanctioned loans at 4 intervals from 2011-2014 by the bank,” the FIR alleged.
It also said that the firm had concealed hypothecated stock and diverted book debts with malafide and dishonest intention so that the same were not made available to the creditor bank for inspection and for effecting recovery as secured creditor. “An alleged loss of Rs 40.92 crore was caused to bank,” it said.
The FIR further stated that the account was classified as non-performing asset (NPA) on March 31, 2014 and based on anomalies, the account was declared as fraud on February 2, 2018 with an outstanding amount of Rs 40.92 crore.
ALSO READ: Kurukshetra 2.0: Punjab, Delhi, Haryana Spar Over Tajinder Bagga
It was also alleged that the loan availed by the accused has not been used for the purpose for which it was availed, the FIR read.
The searches by the central agency comes a day after BJP spokesperson Bagga was arrested by Punjab Police from his residence in Delhi over his statements against AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal. Bagga was stopped by Haryana Police while being taken to Punjab and handed over to the Delhi Police.
The BJP launched an attack against the AAP over his arrest, accusing it of “misusing” the police and trying to muzzle freedom of speech.