The Punjab government Wednesday ordered a probe into the issuance of an arms licence and passport verification process of Sukhdev Singh Namdhari, who was arrested by Delhi Police for conspiracy in the killing of liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his brother.
The troubles for Namdhari, former Uttarakhand Minorities Commission chairman, do not seem to be getting over as taking cognizance of reports about the issuance of the arms licence and verification for issuance of passport to him, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal ordered an inquiry.
Badal, who is also Punjab's home minister, ordered that the probe be conducted by Principal Secretary (Home) D.S. Bains into the entire matter. Bains has been asked to submit his report within a fortnight.
A spokesperson of the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said that the deputy chief minister wanted to prevent the issuance of arms licenses and fake verifications of unscrupulous and anti-social elements in the state.
Namdhari was arrested by Delhi Police for conspiracy in the killing of liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his brother, Hardeep Chadha. They were killed a shootout Nov 17 in a disputed farmhouse in Delhi.
Namdhari, a resident of Bajpur in Uttrakhand's Udham Singh Nagar district, does not live in Mohali or Punjab from where his arms license and passport were issued.
Passport officials in Jalandhar said that Namdhari's passport has been impounded following complaints that he had obtained the passport from Punjab on the basis of a fake address which was verified by Punjab Police officials.
Delhi Police arrested Namdhari Saturday for conspiracy in the killing of billionaire Ponty Chadha and his brother Hardeep Chadha. Namdhari's 7.62 mm pistol was recovered by the police Sunday from his Bajpur house.
The Chadha brothers had been provided armed security by Punjab Police even though they did not hold any official position in the state.