Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday said those involved in corruption in the execution of the Jang-e-Azadi Memorial project in Jalandhar will be exposed. Mann, without naming anyone, said the Vigilance Bureau is summoning an "affluent" person for allegedly "swindling" funds earmarked for the execution of the project.
In a statement issued here, Mann further said that he fails to understand how the investigation in the matter is an attack on the media. "Was money issued in the name of the media and if not then what has the newspaper to do with this?" he asked.
"It is a matter of accountability of Rs 200 crore used for construction of a memorial in the name of great martyrs," Mann said, adding that he will ensure accountability for every single penny spent from the public exchequer.
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Barjinder Singh Hamdard, the editor-in-chief of a Punjabi daily, was under the Vigilance Bureau scanner over the alleged misuse of funds in the execution of the memorial. Hamdard was instrumental in the conception and construction of the project.
The Jang-e-Azadi Memorial is a memorial and museum in Jalandhar's Kartarpur town, built in memory of the sacrifices made by the Punjabi community in the Indian independence movement. On June 1, several Opposition leaders gathered at the office of the newspaper in Jalandhar to rally behind its editor-in-chief.
