India’s Central Bureau of Investigation has added WhatsApp chats that allegedly discuss payments and postings of senior Punjab officials to its case file. The probe concerns Rajbir Singh Ghuman, an aide to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, and five other people.
The messages reportedly refer to payments and appointments of officials, including several deputy superintendents of police. Besides Ghuman, the case names Nitin Gohal, Jitin, Romi Raja Mahajan, Bir Devinder and R.S. Nagra. A chief minister’s office official told The Times of India that Ghuman had not been served a summons, despite reports that investigators had called him to the CBI office in Chandigarh at 2:30 p.m. Journalists had gathered outside the agency’s Sector 30 office.
The case draws on an earlier Enforcement Directorate investigation. The FIR says investigators questioned Gohal in May after seizing material. He is accused of receiving draft orders and policies and forwarding them to private individuals before official publication. One draft concerned grain handling and transport. Investigators allege that Nagra, who runs a grain-supply business, sought favorable changes to the policy through Gohal.
Investigators also obtained documents about real-estate projects, cooperative housing and alleged irregularities at the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority. The CBI is examining claims of influence over IAS and IPS postings, policy-making, tender conditions, revenue and land matters. The allegations have not been established in court.