Ludhiana: Punjab Vigilance on Thursday arrested the fourth accused in the alleged transportation tender scam in which former Food and Supply Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu has already been arrested. Ludhiana Range Vigilance SSP Ravinderpal Singh Sandhu said that Ashu's close associate Anil Jain was arrested by the vigilance late at night on Thursday from Thatthadi village.
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"He will be produced in court on Friday. This is the fourth arrest in this case," he added. Jain, husband of Congress councilor Rupali Jain and Mullanpur Dakha Municipal Council President Telu Ram Bansal's brother Mahaveer Bansal have been named as other accused in the scam. Congress leader and former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu was arrested on August 22 by the vigilance over alleged irregularities in awarding contracts for transporting foodgrain.
Ashu is accused of allotting transportation tenders on fake registration numbers of vehicles. He is lodged in Patiala Jail. A case has been registered against eight accused so far. The Ludhiana district court in September rejected the bail application of Ashu in the multi-crore transport tender scam. The owner and partners of Gurdas Ram & Company besides the contractor Telu Ram Jagrup Singh Sandeep Bhatia are also involved in the scam.
