Congress demands CBI probe into Rs.300 crore fraud by Punjab BJP minister

AMRITSAR : Karamjit Singh Rintu who had lost assembly elections on Congress ticket against BJP Minister Anil Joshi in the last general assembly election of Punjab here today alleged that Anil Joshi during his tenure as Industrial Minister in 2013 while posing as a sarkari conman advocated about Model Industrial Park (MIP) and stripped industrialists and businessmen of Rs.300 crores.Rintu while holding the press conference here today alleged that MIP was a private project of Joshi and to earn millions he used his ministry to woo the investors and sell land on high prices with government’s tag over it.Rintu alleged that MIP was a private project of Joshi and to earn millions he used his ministry to woo the investors and sell land on high prices with government’s tag over it. He said that investors were deceived as they invested upon the assurances of the alleged minister and for the past three years neither the minister nor anyone else paid any heed to listen to the investors. Debt ridden and duped investors were on the verge of bankruptcy and committing suicides.Explaining MIP further, Rintu alleged that first Joshi bought cheap land spending his black money and later on stamped MIP with government seal to sell it with big profits. The 147 acre MIP project is situated on Mehta Road (already a focal point) and was inaugurated by the alleged minister on 15 Feb 2013 whereas the notification for the said project was issued on 12 March 2013 vide notification no. 18/82/2012-5H.G2/1171. This notification was issued by Housing and Urban Development department which rings another bell that why industrial ministry wasn’t not involved; or the industrial ministry declined to re-notify the already notified focal point. The possession of 131 acres was taken but there is no record of the remaining 16 acres. The booking for 10 acres was done as per norms but there is no record of the under the table deals. Around 16 acres of the land was sold to a company for opening a hospital, Rintu quipped.