3-Member SIT to probe Tulli lab COVID testing scam in Punjab

Chandigarh [India], July 12 (ANI): Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday announced a 3-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the alleged COVID testing scam by Tulli lab, while warning that his government would not allow private hospitals or laboratories to profiteer from this unprecedented crisis facing humanity.
During his 'Ask Captain Facebook Live session', Singh said he had received a complaint against Tulli lab and had asked the Vigilance Bureau to look into the matter but when initial investigation showed that there was no involvement of any government department or officer, the case was transferred to the Punjab Police.
The 3-member SIT tasked with the probe is headed by Police Commissioner Amritsar, himself a doctor, with a civil surgeon as a member, said the Chief Minister, adding that he has ordered the SIT to conduct a thorough investigation and submit its findings soon, so that suitable action can be taken.
A spokesperson of the Chief Minister's office later said, "The Chief Minister had taken strong exception to SAD leader Bikram Majithia's attempts to politicise the simple jurisdictional decision of transferring the probe to the district police. Apart from the fact that the Vigilance Bureau had, prima facie, not found any complicity of government department/official in the case, Tulli Labs itself had moved the court challenging the Bureau's jurisdiction."
"The government deemed it fit to transfer the case to the Punjab Police to ensure that no legal hurdle is posed later," added spokesperson.
Meanwhile, in response to a question during Facebook session whether the recently established Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) of Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa was a Congress gameplan, the Chief Minister said that what happens in the Akali party "is not our job."
"They keep fighting...history shows that they keep getting divided. There is nothing new in it. At one point of time, there were seven Akali Dals. The Akali party is like a rubber band - it keeps expanding and contracting," he quipped.
"These kind of things are normal in their party. If Dhindsa could not stay with them after being part of SAD his entire life, what can one say," remarked Captain Amarinder. (ANI)