Chandigarh, February 8: The issue of “goonda tax” on transportation of goods to and from Bathinda refinery has taken political overtones, with Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal accusing a close relative of his estranged cousin and Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal of heading a consortium that is collecting “protection money”.
He alleged: “This protection money or goonda tax should be called JST — Jojo Service Tax — after Jojo, the brother-in-law of Manpreet, who is leading the cartel of Congressmen demanding this unlawful tax from transporters. It is being done under the protection of the Finance Minister.”
Talking to The Tribune here, Sukhbir said Rampura Phul MLA Gurpreet Singh Kangar, Faridkot MLA Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon, and another local Congress leader Khushbaz Jattana, were involved in this racket of collecting protection money from the transporters. “They have even roped in the Talwandi Sabo AAP MLA, Baljinder Kaur,” he alleged. All these leaders, when contacted, have denied the allegations and demanded a fair investigation to find out who was actually involved.
Earlier this week, the transporters associated with Guru Gobind Singh Refinery had approached the Bathinda administration and complained about being forced to pay “goonda tax” by the local truck union. These transporters are reported to have told the administration that the local truck union was working at the behest of leaders associated with the ruling Congress.
The issue of “goonda tax” on transportation of goods to and from Bathinda refinery has taken political overtones, with Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal accusing a close relative of his estranged cousin and Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal of heading a consortium that is collecting “protection money”.
News Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com
