Kutlehar BJP candidate Bhutto booked for fraud, complaint filed by PWD
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His contractor son allegedly submitted bogus papers for a govt tender
DHARAMSHALA: A case of fraud has been registered against BJP candidate for Kutlehar Assembly bypoll and former Congress MLA Davinder Kumar Bhutto and his son Karan Singh following a complaint by the Himachal Pradesh Public Works Department (PWD).
The complaint has been lodged at the Dehra police station under sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code. It has been alleged that Karan, a government contractor, submitted forged documents to secure a tender from the PWD.
Upon discovering the bogus documents, the department cancelled the tender and filed a complaint, leading to the registration of the police case.
The legal action has intensified scrutiny on Bhutto during a critical election period as voting is to be conducted on June 1, 2024. Bhutto and five other Congress MLAs —Sudhir Sharma (Dharamshala), Rajinder Singh Rana (Sujanpur), Ravi Thakur (Lahaul-Spiti), Chaitanya Sharma (Gagret) and Inder Dutt Lakhanpal (Barsar) — were disqualified from the Himachal Assembly by Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania for defying a party whip on voting during the budget session.
Prior to that, the six Congress MLAs had cross-voted in favour of BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan in the Rajya Sabha election on February 27, leading to Congress rival Abhishek Manu Singhvi’s defeat and causing much embarrassment to the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress government.
All the six MLAs have since joined the BJP, which has fielded them to defend their respective seats.
Chief Minister Sukhu had recently faced flak when, during a in Kutlehar rally, he had allegedly said from the stage “Bhutto ko kutto (rough him up)”.
The BJP had reached the Election Commission against the comment, alleging it tantamounted to vitiating peace in the state ahead of the Assembly bypoll.
Kangra Superintendent of Police Shalini Agnihotri confirmed the registration of the case and the commencement of further action against Bhutto and his son. “On the complaint of the Public Works Department, a case has been registered against Davinder Kumar Bhutto and his son Karan Singh on the charges of fraud and further action has been started,” said Agnihotri. Attempts to reach Bhutto for comments remained futile as he did not respond to calls or messages.
