Former Punjab forest minister Dharamsot arrested on graft charges

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau arrested former state minister and Congress leader Sadhu Singh Dharamsot on corruption charges in the early hours of Tuesday, official sources said.

The social welfare and forest minister in the previous Congress government was arrested from Amloh. A local journalist, who was said to be working as his aide, has also been held in this case, sources said.

Dharamsot's arrest came just hours ahead of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's visit to Punjab. The former Congress chief is scheduled to visit the house of Sidhu Moosewala in Mansa on Tuesday to express condolences to the singer's family.


A few days earlier, district forest officer Guramanpreet Singh and contractor Harminder Singh Hummy were arrested in a corruption case.

Both of them are learnt to have provided details of the alleged wrongdoings in the forest department when Dharamsot was the minister, sources said.

In April, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had warned of action against Dharamsot.

Dharamsot's name had figured in the alleged scholarship scam in 2020 following a report by the then additional chief secretary during the Amarinder Singh-led government in Punjab. However, he was exonerated by a three-member panel of IAS officers.