Bhalla spent his days in Nepal, police gets three-day remand

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 25

The city police got three-day remand of Daman Bhalla, Deputy Controller, Finance and Accounts (DCFA), and the prime accused in the Rs 80-crore scam of the Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT). He was arrested a day before yesterday and produced in the local court. During the police investigation, Bhalla told the police that he fled from the city before the police registered a case against him.

He left the city on September 6. After spending a few days in Chandigarh, he fled to Delhi. Bhalla approached some influential leaders to sort out the issue in Delhi. When the police registered a case against him, including six others employees, he moved to Nepal. He spent around 45 days in various cities of Nepal. According to sources, he managed to obtain a local SIM in Nepal and used it to get money from his relatives.

Meanwhile, the city police started keeping an eye on his relatives and they did not further transfer the money into his account. Daman was penniless for the past some days and also spent a few days in temples. Finally, he decided to return home.

The district police had registered an FIR against three estate officers, Arvind Sharma, Dhian Chand Garg and Paramjit Singh, besides the Deputy Controller Finance and Accounts (DCFA) Bhalla, Tina Vohra, CA Sanjay Kapoor and bill clerk Satnam Singh on September 8. All the accused were missing.

According to the police investigation, Daman allegedly transferred crores of rupees into his personal accounts from AIT accounts. He used to change the figures of amount written on the cheques to embezzle money.

Shivdharshan Singh, SHO, Civil Lines police station, said Bhalla was a key accused in the AIT scam. “We are investigating the matter to trace the other six accused officials,” he added. The police was expecting that the accused might be in neighbouring states.