Disproportionate assets case: CBI raids Himachal CM’s residence

Shimla/New Delhi, Sep 26 (IANS) Sleuths of the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate on Saturday raided the residence of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh in Shimla to probe an inquiry in a disproportionate assets case against him, officials said.

The officials, with vehicles of Chandigarh and Punjab registration numbers, reached Virbhadra Singh’s private residence, Holly Lodge, located in Jakhu hills in the morning.

"Searches were conducted at 11 locations in Himachal Pradesh and Delhi," a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officer in New Delhi said.

The raid coincided with the marriage of the chief minister’s daughter in Shimla.

Virbhadra Singh and his family were not at home when the team reached their residence.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on June 18 initiated a preliminary inquiry against Virbhadra Singh and his family over allegations of corruption and acquiring disproportionate assets during his tenure as union steel minister.

However, Virbhadra Singh refuted the allegations.

Official sources told IANS that the CBI restarted the preliminary inquiry on the basis of the income tax department order that said the agricultural income of Virbhadra Singh and his family dramatically increased in the revised return, which was an apparent attempt to justify the investments made in the purchase of insurance policies worth over Rs.6.1 crore.