Rajbir Singh Ghuman, officer on special duty to Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, faced four and a half hours of questioning by the Central Bureau of Investigation in Chandigarh on Monday, marking his second appearance before the agency in a corruption probe centered on official postings and transfers.
WhatsApp Chats Dismissed as Routine Administrative Traffic
Stepping outside the agency’s office after a session stretching from 2 pm to 6:30 pm, Ghuman told reporters that investigators posed between 40 and 50 questions, some revisiting ground covered during his initial six-hour interrogation last Friday. He dismissed digital evidence flagged by the Enforcement Directorate as completely standard communication.
Those were routine messages regarding requests for transfers and postings, Ghuman stated, maintaining that the conversations recovered from businessman Nitin Gohal’s seized phone contained nothing illicit. Enforcement Directorate records indicate that Gohal’s device held 21 distinct WhatsApp chats concerning administrative placements spanning September 2023 to March 2026.
Contradicting the Kharar High-Rise Recovery Timeline
The inquiry also touches on a May incident at Kharar’s Western Towers Society, where cash-filled bags were reportedly tossed from a ninth-floor apartment belonging to Gohal. Ghuman questioned the logistics of the official narrative surrounding that recovery.
The Enforcement Directorate itself stated in its panchnama that the bags were recovered on the road, Ghuman noted. The raid began at 7 am, and his family was taken into custody by 7:10 am. Since the bags were allegedly thrown at 8:30 am, how could they possibly have thrown them? Either someone tossed the bags out of panic, or it was a drama by some agency.
According to his statements, investigators have not yet incorporated the apartment incident directly into the active Central Bureau of Investigation file. Ghuman confirmed he has been summoned again on October 22.
Political Fallout and Upcoming Court Deadlines
The current legal proceedings stem from a Punjab and Haryana High Court directive ordering a thorough investigation into allegations of influence-peddling, tender manipulation, real estate irregularities, and an active cash-for-transfer network. The Supreme Court granted Ghuman interim protection from coercive action on October 12, instructing him to cooperate fully. The Enforcement Directorate subsequently registered a parallel money-laundering case in Jalandhar on October 13.
Ghuman alleged that the proceedings form part of a targeted campaign to damage the administration. There has been no corruption—this is purely propaganda to defame us, he said, adding that opposition figures quickly publicize agency correspondence.
The central agency faces a court-mandated deadline to file its comprehensive investigation report by December 4.
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