Govt raking up allegations of disproportionate assets against me after every 15 days: Channi

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Wednesday grilled former chief minister and Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi at its state headquarters in Mohali for the third time for amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

After the questioning that lasted for over three hours, Channi told the media that the AAP government has been raking up allegations of disproportionate assets against him after every 15 days as assets include two houses.

“The government is defaming the Opposition (Congress) on one pretext or the other. During the (assembly) election campaigning  (Aam Aadmi Party’s chief ministerial candidate)  Bhagwant Mann had made false claims about my wealth of Rs 169 crore,” said Channi, the state’s first Dalit chief minister.

“If they have evidence, they should put me behind bars. Or they can order to shoot me,” he added.

The three-time legislator said he has contested every election from 2007 onwards after selling his property.

“I own two houses, two offices and a shop. If they have any other details of my assets, the government can get it confiscated,” Channi, who unsuccessfully contested the assembly election in 2022 from two seats, added.

The Vigilance Bureau has been probing the assets of Channi, his brothers, family members and some of his associates for amassing wealth more than their declared sources of income.

Earlier, Channi appeared before the investigating agency on June 14 and he was questioned for over five hours.

It has also been probing a complaint against Channi with allegations of diversion of funds from an official function for his son's marriage.

An RTI also revealed that Channi was the chief minister when he spent Rs 60 lakh as his food bill in a period of three months.

The Vigilance Bureau on March 7 had issued a lookout circular against Channi to prevent him from flying abroad.

Channi has been vocal in his criticism against Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

In his affidavit submitted to the Election Commission in 2022, Channi declared immovable assets worth Rs 4.71 crore and moveable assets worth Rs 1.46 crore. Along with his wife’s assets worth Rs 3.27 crore, the couple has Rs 9.44-crore assets.