Chandigarh, March 21 (IANS) The vigilance cell of the Chandigarh police Sunday arrested the father of a government contractor after the latter tried to steal 200 bags of cement from a government store here.

Vigilance officials said Sunday that Jawahar Jindal, who runs a construction company in Haryana and is the father of contractor Harshwardhan, was arrested after the truck carrying the 200 cement bags stolen from the Sector 17 store of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, was impounded from near Fun Republic in Mani Majra area here late Saturday night.

While the contractor Harshwardhan is absconding, vigilance officials arrested a guard of the store from where the cement bags were stolen. Vigilance officials said the role of certain municipal corporation officials for connivance in getting the cement bags stolen was being investigated.

The contractor is himself executing flooring work in Sector 17 - Chandigarh's biggest commercial hub.

'The pilfered cement was to be used in the construction firm (Sarv Priya building products) of Jawahar Jindal near Barwala in Panchkula district of Haryana,' a vigilance official told IANS.

The truck carrying the stolen cement bags was impounded and the driver of the vehicle, Harwinder Singh, was also arrested.