1 more accused nabbed in housing grant scam

Kapurthala, March 14

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The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) on Thursday arrested one more accused, namely

Gurudev Singh, a resident of village Khangah in district Kapurthala, for misappropriating a grant of Rs 45,000 by colluding with others out of a total Central grant of Rs 4,95,000 received by Khangah gram panchayat in the year 2011-2012. These funds were sanctioned to the said panchayat for construction of pucca houses for the poor and homeless under the Indira Awas Yojana. The accused was absconding for the last seven years.

It is worth mentioning that of the total 132 accused involved in the case registered about seven years ago, 119 had already been arrested so far and 11 of the accused had passed away while search for the remaining two accused was in progress.

Disclosing this here today, a spokesperson of the VB said of the total Central grant of Rs 4,95,000 received by Khangah panchayat in the year 2011-2012 for the below poverty line (BPL) families, the then ADC Development-cum-Chief Executive Officer, Zila Parishad, Kapurthala, Satish Chander Vashisht, in connivance with Asa Singh, Sarpanch of village Mehmedwal and Kulwant Singh, then Panchayat Secretary, had embezzled the grants by issuing cheques in the name of ineligible beneficiaries.

He informed that on the recommendations of Deputy Commissioner, Kapurthala, a five-member committee, comprising various officials, had conducted a physical verification regarding the utilisation of said grants, during which it was found that illegal payments to the tune of Rs 1,80,00,000 were made to 411 ineligible beneficiaries belonging to 31 villages in Kapurthala district during the year 2011-12.