Probe into Punjab hawala scam sought

Pressure mounted on Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh as a delegation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Akali Dal led by former Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ask him to intervene and order an inquiry by the enforcement directorate into a multi-crore hawala scam in which they alleged that both Singh and his son Raninder Singh were involved.

They also demanded that Congress sack the chief minister immediately following media "expose of his direct role" in the multi-crore hawala scam in which his son is alleged to have defrauded the state government of billions in foreign exchange.

The chief minister in his defence said he had himself asked former Finance Minister Jaswant Singh to refer the matter to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and offered to resign if it was proved he had taken "even one rupee".

"I have taken a categorical stand on corruption, lots of bigwigs are involved in it and this looks like some sort of retaliation. The truth will finally emerge. If it is proved that I have even taken one rupee in the transaction, I will resign that very day," he told reporters.

But Akali and BJP leaders said this was not the solitary scam that had the alleged involvement of the chief minister or his family. "There are three scams"" the money aundering scam, recruitment scam in which non-sportsmen were recruited in sports quota and liquor scam in which vends were given to one person.

The Centre should immediately order an inquiry by the Enforcement Directorate into it (hawala scam)," Badal told reporters after meeting the Prime Minister and President APJ Abdul Kalam.

Badal also debunked the Punjab chief minister's claim that a commission was enquiring into charges of money-laundering, claiming it was not a competent authority to do so.

The Punjab chief minister said he had been made the victim of a conspiracy. "The demand made by the Akalis and the media reports have political overtones. The timing of the reports alleging my involvement was also politically motivated," he said.

Badal and the other leaders from Punjab who met the Prime Minister said the chief minister had dissolved the Lok Pal and in Punjab, there was no competent authority to investigate allegations of corruption involving the government.