CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Saturday raided the residence and office of former Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and prominent realtor Ranjit Singh Gill. The sudden raid comes after Gill was inducted into the saffron party by the Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Friday.
There was heavy police presence outside Gill's office in Kharar. The state vigilance team was inspecting his residence in Sector 2 of Chandigarh.
Gill was not available for comment, but his close associates confirmed the raids. Till the time of writing, there has been no official information on the raid yet.
Gill was inducted into the BJP by Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini at his official residence here on Friday evening. After joining, party Gill expressed confidence in the saffron party's policies and programmes under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Sources in the BJP claimed that, Gill was allegedly pressured to join the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which led to his sudden, late-night switch to the saffron party.
"That is why he joined BJP abruptly. And by morning, the Vigilance Bureau was at his door-step," said a BJP leader who was present during Gill’s induction into the party.
He had recently resigned from the primary membership of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). He was once considered a close confidant of SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal.
Gill had earlier claimed that loyal party workers in the SAD were being sidelined, while outsiders were gaining prominence in the constituency.
Sources said that Gill is a strong contender for the party ticket from the Kharar Assembly seat in the next elections. He had unsuccessfully contested from the Kharar Assembly seat in the 2017 and 2022 Punjab Assembly elections.