Chandigarh, Nov 09: Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra today demanded a high-level independent probe into "media reports about the Punjab Vigilance Bureau's attempts to misuse some private evaluation agencies to inflate the value of properties" belonging to the family of Shiromani Akali Dal President Parkash Singh Badal. “These reports have set the cat out of the bag on the true nature of Chief Minister Amarinder's vendetta against Akali workers and leaders in general and the party president Badal and his family in particular. They also clearly establish how desperate the Chief Minister is getting in the face of his failure to find anything against Badal," Tohra said in a statement here.
Tohra alleged that the chief minister was "trying to cover his embarrassment by misusing the vigilance bureau to fabricate evidence against the Badals."
Yesterday, Vigilance Bureau Chief Director A P Pandey said that the challan against Badal in the alleged disproportionate assets case had been finalised and would be submitted in the court next week.
Pandey also justified the engaging of some private evaluating companies to ascertain the worth of properties allegedly owned by the former chief minister and his family, saying that the bureau wants to be doubly sure and cross-check the facts with their own evaluation work.
Bureau Report