Patiala, December 19
The Vigilance Bureau on Monday raided various properties owned by BIS Chahal, former adviser to Capt Amarinder Singh.
The VB has started a formal inquiry against Chahal in a disproportionate assets case.
A request has been sent to the immigration authorities to issue a lookout circular against Chahal.
An officer monitoring the case said Chahal’s phone is switched off since December 8 and he is not traceable.
He said the VB teams are ascertaining the value of the properties of Chahal.
Chahal was adviser with a cabinet rank from 2017-21 when Amarinder was the Punjab chief minister. He, along with Amarinder, joined the BJP in July.
Chahal was booked in a corruption case by the SAD government in 2008 but was later acquitted as witnesses against him turned hostile.
Almost 10 days back, a team of senior district police officials reached his Tawakli Morh residence here but Chahal was not present there.
A senior VB official said though his family, including his grandson, are present in Patiala, Chahal had been missing despite efforts to trace his whereabouts. “We have intimated the authorities to ensure that he does not leave the country,” he said.
“In one of the earlier cases under probe, there is evidence linking Chahal. Therefore, we are conducting searches at the properties owned by him,” said the official.
