Badal orders probe into ransacking of ex-minister’s office

CHANDIGARH - Taking serious note of allegations of former Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal’s office being “ransacked”, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal Saturday ordered a probe into the incident.

Badal asked Chief Secretary S.C. Aggarwal to initiate an immediate inquiry, identify the culprits and ensure exemplary punishment for them.

Manpreet Badal, a nephew of the chief minister, was sacked from the government this week after a controversy over a central debt-waiver led to political spat with his cousin and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, who is also the president of the ruling Akali Dal.

The chief minster said that he and his government were committed to the maintenance of the highest democratic values “and all MLAs (legislators), regardless of the political affiliations, enjoyed a place of high dignity and respect in the system.”

“All legislators, no matter which party they belong to and what political views they hold, are the elected representatives of the people and any act of mischief against any one of them will be severely dealt with,” Badal said in a statement issued here.