Shimla , May 21
The Himachal Pradesh police have filed a case against Davinder Kumar Bhutto, a BJP candidate for the Kutlehar Assembly bypoll, and his son Karan Bhutto. Davinder was one of six Congress MLAs disqualified for cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha elections.
Police chief of Kangra Shalini Agnihotri revealed that duo were booked in a case that involves a government contract from the Public Works Department (PWD) in Kangra district obtained a few months ago.
“We have filed an FIR against Davinder Kumar Bhutto and his son. We have collected all relevant records from the PWD. These documents are being examined, including a forensic review. They will be summoned for investigation once this is completed. More details cannot be shared at this stage,” she said
The FIR, registered last week at Dehra police station, includes charges under sections 406 (forgery of documents) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.
Sources claim Davinder and his son Karan, a government contractor, forged documents to get the contract. When this was discovered, the contract was cancelled.
Bhutto responded, “This is just vendetta politics by the state government. The matter related to the government contract was in the Himachal Pradesh High Court in Shimla, which recently ruled in our favor. I also have information that government plans to file another case against me in Una district.”
Davinder and five other Congress MLAs cross-voted for BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan in the Rajya Sabha elections in February, which led to the defeat of Congress candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi. As a result, the six MLAs were disqualified and joined the BJP, receiving party tickets to contest the June 1 bypolls in six constituencies: Kutlehar, Lahaul & Spiti, Gagret, Sujanpur, Dharamshala, and Badsar.
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