Continuing its raids on properties owned by the Badal family, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau today swooped on a resort in Gurgaon owned by Sukhbir Singh Badal, former Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal’s son.Around 20 VB sleuths, accompanied by Punjab Police officials and engineers of the Public Works Department, carried out searches at the 18-acre Orbit Resort near Shankar Chowk in Udyog Vihar.‘‘The raid was carried out to assess the value of the property and to find out how much money has been put into it,’’ a Vigilance official said.Earlier, when the Vigilance team reached the resort, it had to face opposition from 350-400 slogan-shouting Akali Dal supporters who had gathered there. An Akali Dal spokesperson said the Vigilance team was not allowed entry into the premises by Sukhbir Badal’s counsel who asked them to produce the warrant with permission to take pictures. After a standoff that lasted hours, the team was finally allowed to enter the premises but only after a warrant was obtained from a Kharar court. The Vigilance team, however, did not divulge whether they found any incriminating evidence at the resort.The raid followed 13 warrants issued by the Kharar court to the Vigilance Bureau to search four properties in Chandigarh — three in Delhi, the Orbit Resort in Gurgaon, Badal’s palatial farmhouse in Balasar village in Haryana and his ancestral and commercial properties in Punjab.Earlier on June 28, the Punjab police conducted raids on 16 properties owned by Badal. The VB has registered cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act against Badal and seven others, including his wife Surinder Kaur and son Sukhbir, a Rajya Sabha MP. Also named in the cases are Badal’s nephew Narottam Singh Dhillon, London-based Kanwaljit Singh Sidhu, chairman of Wimpy’s International and Badal’s former aide Hardeep Singh Bhamra.Yesterday, the VB wrote to different banks, including Punjab National Bank, Punjab and Sind Bank and Bank of Punjab, telling them to ‘‘seal’’ Badal’s accounts in their branches in Chandigarh, Delhi and Punjab for scrutiny of the accounts to check the transactions made in the past few years, informed a Vigilance official.Reacting to the raid, Sukhbir Singh Badal said the raiding team has found nothing from the resort. ‘‘This is just a political gimmick to please their party bosses. They have found nothing. We will go to the public and mobilise public opinion on the issue,’’ he said. Perfect Relations, the PR agency hired by Badal, later said in a press statement that they cooperated fully with the police who came with a search warrant.
