Former Punjab Deputy CM OP Soni Arrested Over Disproportionate Assets

Punjab's former Deputy Chief Minister, OP Soni, has been arrested in connection with a case involving disproportionate assets. The Vigilance Bureau has detained Soni regarding the accumulation of wealth beyond his known sources of income. Today, Om Prakash Soni presented himself at the Special Investigation and Vigilance Bureau (SIVB) office, where he was questioned extensively before being taken into custody.

Serious Allegations of Amassed Wealth

Serious allegations of accumulating disproportionate assets have been leveled against former Deputy Chief Minister OP Soni. He has been asked to provide information and details regarding the acquisition of wealth. It is evident that the investigation will focus on his income from 2017 to 2022.

The Vigilance Bureau's Statement

The spokesperson for the Vigilance Bureau stated that a case under FIR number 20, dated July 9, 2023, has been registered against OP Soni at the VB police station, Amritsar Range, under sections 13(1)(b) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, following an inquiry conducted on October 10, 2022.

During the period from April 1, 2016, to March 31, 2022, OP Soni's total income, including his family's, amounted to INR 45,218,771, while expenditures reached INR 124,842,692. This means that his income exceeded his known sources by INR 79,623,921 or 176.08 percent. It has been alleged that OP Soni made property investments in the names of his wife, Sumen Soni, and son, Raghav Soni, during this period. Further investigation into this matter is ongoing.

OP Soni's Political Background

OP Soni, after the resignation of Captain Amarinder Singh and the appointment of Charanjit Singh Channi as Chief Minister in 2021, was entrusted with the position of Deputy Chief Minister in Punjab. Soni has previously won elections to the Punjab Legislative Assembly in 1997, 2002, 2007, and 2012. In the 2017 elections, he contested the Amritsar Central seat  and was defeated by a margin of over 21,000 votes. He served as the first Mayor of Amritsar in 1991 and remained the General Secretary of the Punjab Congress Publicity Committee and Chairman of the All India Council of Mayors. Additionally, he has been a member of the Public Accounts Committee in the Legislative Assembly and Chairman of the Committee on Public Undertakings in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha during the 2017-18 term.

The investigation into OP Soni's case is expected to continue, shedding further light on the allegations against the former Deputy Chief Minister.