Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, May 27
The Vigilance Bureau today registered a case against two sarpanches, eight panches, two panchayat secretaries, one Junior Engineer (JE), 10 firms and four private persons on the charge of misappropriating Rs 6.66 crore on the pretext of undertaking development works.
Development works not carried out
- PUDA acquired panchayat land in five Patiala villages for the Amritsar-Kolkata Integrated Corridor
- Around Rs 285 crore was paid to the panchayats; land cultivators were given displacement allowance of Rs 97.8 core
- Villagers later complained to the VB there were several lacunae in the development works
- The probe revealed panchayat released money without undertaking any development work
The accused had allegedly embezzled panchayat funds received in lieu of acquiring 1,103 acre, three kanal, and 15 marla in five villages — Akari, Sehra, Sehri, Takhtumajra and Pabra — of Patiala district. The land was acquired for the Amritsar-Kolkata Integrated Corridor Project.
A case has been registered under Sections 406, 420, 409, 465, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC, and Sections 13 (1) A and 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
A VB spokesperson said the two sarpanches and eight panches of Akari and Sehri villages, 10 firms and four private persons had been booked for supplying material and labour on the pretext of development works.
The accused include Akari village sarpanch Harjit Kaur; panches Charanjit Kaur, Avtar Singh, Sukhwinder Singh, Darshan Singh and Kulwinder Kaur; and panchayat secretary Jaswinder Singh. All are posted in the Block Development and Panchayat Office (BDPO), Shambhu.
The other accused are Sehri village sarpanch Manjit Singh; panches Jatinder Rani, Lakhveer Singh and Pawandeep Kaur; panchayat secretary Lakhminder Singh; and assistant engineer Dharminder Kumar. They are also posted in the BDPO office, Shambhu.
The spokesperson said PUDA had acquired panchayat land in the five villages for the corridor project and around Rs 285 crore in compensation was paid to the panchayats. Besides, land cultivators were given a displacement allowance of Rs 97.8 core at the rate of Rs 9 lakh per acre. The money was received from 2019 to 2022.
Villagers had later complained to the VB that there were several lacunae in the development works carried out with the help of compensation money.
Subsequently, a probe was ordered and it came to light that the Akari and Sehari panchayat village had released money without undertaking any development work.
It was also revealed that the accused allegedly embezzled Rs 6.66 crore in connivance with the panchayat officials.
VB books10 panchayat members for Rs 6.6 cr fraud
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