Dehradun, Aug 30 (PTI) Vigilance department sleuths on Wednesday conducted raids at properties owned by former Uttarakhand minister Harak Singh Rawat and his kin here in connection with a probe into alleged large-scale felling of trees and illegal constructions at the Corbett Tiger Reserve.

Thousands of trees were allegedly felled and constructions carried out in the Reserve during Rawat's tenure as the state's forest minister in the previous BJP government.

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Rawat had quit the BJP ahead of the 2022 state assembly polls and joined the Congress.

Wednesday's raids were conducted at a medical college in Shankarpur and a petrol pump in Chiddarwala here, vigilance department sources said, adding they belong to the former minister and his son.

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The action drew a sharp reaction from the Congress.

PCC president Karan Mahara said, "When Rawat was in BJP, there was nothing wrong with him. Now that he is in the Congress, he is being targeted."

"Any party which has faith in democratic values cannot approve of the BJP's politics of harassing opposition leaders," he said.

On the one hand, the BJP is "protecting" corrupt businessmen and leaders associated with the party and on the other targeting opposition leaders all over the country misusing the CBI, the ED and the vigilance department, Mahara said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)