A 1993 batch IAS officer, former Punjab Chief Secretary Anurag Verma, posted as Additional Chief Secretary—cum-Financial Commissioner (Revenue), left ED’s zonal office in Jalandhar through a backdoor exit after being questioned for nearly 10 hours on Wednesday. Verma used a rear exit to avoid media personnel waiting outside the office. He was questioned in connection with a money-laundering probe into alleged irregularities, change-of-land-use (CLU) permissions, and layout modifications in Mohali’s `348-crore Suntec City housing project. Verma had earlier headed the Housing and Urban Development Department. He had reached the ED office in an SUV bearing a Jalandhar registration number instead of his official vehicle.
Cong MP praises Guv for lending an ear
Congress MP from Gurdaspur and former Punjab Deputy CM Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on Thursday praised Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria for hearing the party’s delegation’s concerns regarding the deteriorating law and order and the drug menace. Randhawa said Kataria was concerned about the drug problem and had undertaken a yatra in border areas against drugs. Taking a swipe at CM Bhagwant Mann, Randhawa said, “We told the governor that Mann is intoxicated on power, among other things.” A delegation of state Congress leaders, led by Charanjit Singh Channi, met Kataria and voiced concerns.
SAD uses Apple’s new launch to target AAP
With the 2027 Punjab assembly elections less than five months away, the political slugfest in the state has found a new prop, Apple’s new foldable iphone. SAD used the launch of the new phone to take a dig at the ruling AAP. In a post on X, Akali Dal tagged a video of the new phone and wrote, “Just like #Iphone’s new foldable phone, you all will be folded and sent packing out of Punjab—for peddling fake news; for expanding drug trade; for making Punjab indebted; for 5 crore of corruption deals and for the murder of innocents like Gulzar Singh!’’
Harpreet Bajwa
Our correspondent in Chandigarh
hsbajwa73@gmail.com
