The Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a major breakthrough recently seized 4 kgs of gold bullion & gold jewelry worth Rs 2.12 Crore (approx) on September 4, 2023, in the case linked to former Punjab Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu. As per the ED, they have seized the 4 kgs of gold bullion & gold jewelry worth Rs 2.12 Crore (approx) from the bank lockers in Ludhiana belonging to the accused persons and their associates in the Punjab Tender Scam case. The Central Investigative Agency came into action last Thursday when it raided former Punjab cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu's residence in Ludhiana. A team of ED reached Bharat Bhushan Ashu's house near Kochhar Market in Ludhiana last Thursday. ED in its statement further informed, "Total seizure and freezing in the case stands more than Rs. 8.6 Crore."
In its last Thursday raid, ED also raided multiple contractors' residences and offices including Congress leaders like Sunny Bhalla and Raman Subramanium. Although the ED during its raid did not specify for which case it raided Bharat Bhushan's house, it was speculated that it might be linked to the infamous food grain scam of Punjab which took place during Ashu's tenure as food, civil supplies, and consumer affairs minister.Now, ED has finally revealed that the raid pertained to the Punjab Tender Scam case or simply Punjab food grain tender scam.
As per reports, on August 24, ED raided 25 places of Bharat Bhushan Ashu and his associates in Ludhiana, Mohali, Nawanshahr, Jalandhar and Amritsar. During this Rs 6.5 crores were seized. And the bank lockers were frozen. Now the total amount seized and frozen in this case has gone up to 8.6 crores. Reportedly, ED suspect that Ashu and his associates have created disproportionate assets by manipulating the department. In this regard, the documents are being examined by the teams of the department.
What is the Food Grain Tender Scam?
Bharat Bhushan Ashu has been named as an accused in the alleged Rs 2,000 crore food grain transportation scam. As per reports, the Vigilance Bureau (VB) had arrested Bharat Bhushan Ashu in Ludhiana on August 22 in an alleged scam related to the allotment of tenders for the transportation of grains during his tenure as food and supply minister in the previous Congress government. On August 16, 2022, the VB registered a case against the partners of Gurdas Ram and Company, officials of the state food and civil supplies department, and employees of the procurement agencies concerned for allegedly committing irregularities in accepting labour, cartage and transportation tenders for grain markets in Ludhiana district.
During the Vigilance investigation, it came to light that at the time of submitting tenders for the year 2020-21 with regard to labour, cartage and transportation works in Ludhiana district, the lists of vehicles submitted by contractors were containing registration numbers of scooters, motorcycles, cars and other vehicles, which were not verified by officials of the district tender committee. According to the department policy, it was mandatory for the committee to reject technical bids after fining such discrepancies.