RAILWAY POSTING SCAM: Singla’s meteoric rise coincided with Bansal’s

42-Yr-Old Is Now Director Of 8 Firms
Chandigarh/Bathinda: From Punjab’s rural hinterland to Chandigrah’s swish set, 42-year-old Vijay Singla’s rise has been meteoric, and coincided with maternal uncle and railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal’s rising political fortunes.

Singla, who was nabbed by the CBI on Friday night for allegedly receiving a bribe amount of Rs 90 lakh in Chandigarh, is a director in eight firms operating from the UT. Till some time ago, he was on the board of three other companies.

Singla, whose family hails from Bhatinda, interestingly rose to be part of the elite business and political circles in the same 15-year period when Pawan Kumar Bansal made giant leaps in his political career.

He acquired businesses with diversified interests in real estate, cement, packaging, infrastructure and steel manufacturing over the last decade, thanks to his proximity to Bansal.

According to documents available with the Union ministry of corporate affairs, Singla is a director on J T L Infra Limited, Jagan Industries, Himani Steels Private Limited, Chetan Industries Limited, Jagan Realtors Private Limited, MVM Metal and Alloys Private Limited and Radian Ferrometals Private Limited.

The parent company, Jagan Industries, came into existence in January 1990 when Bansal was preparing to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Chandigarh. Bansal won the elections from the city in 1991.

Many of these companies soon began flourishing and Singla was frequently spotted hobnobbing with industrialists from different parts of the country at party events. According to sources in the local Congress, he would often facilitate meeting of captains of industry with Bansal at his industrial complex on the edge of Chandigarh.

Singla’s latest venture is Chandigarh-based Mirage Infra Limited, which is a subsidiary of Jagan Group, and is running a commercial project, Acropolis, in the union territory. Most of his industrial units are in Dera Bassi. He owns a plush showroom in sector 28, where he had opened several offices.

After selling off the shares in edible oil mills in Bhatinda, the family had begun manufacturing steel at Gobindgarh near Ludhiana.

Did Singla’s kin hide cash, files?
Chandigarh:There was high drama on Friday night when CBI sleuths from Delhi, assisted by local police, swooped down on Vijay Singla’s bungalow in Chandigarh.The CBI team reached Singla’s residence in Sector 28 at 10.35pm. But sources said few members of Singla’s family, who seemed to have prior information of the raid — rumoured to have been leaked by an assistant sub-inspector — drove out of the house. It is feared the family may have removed some cash and documents. IGP R P Upadhyay, however, refuted allegations of a leak, even though the suspect cop was transferred to police lines on Friday night itself. TNN
COURTESY:
Deepak Yadav & Neel Singla TNN
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