Punjab VB unearths Rs 7-crore scam in agricultural society

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, August 29

The Vigilance Bureau, Punjab, has unearthed a scam to the tune of Rs 7 crore in Karnana Multipurpose Agricultural Service Society Limited, Karnana village, Nawanshahr, and registered a case against seven officials at the VB police station in Jalandhar. The bureau has also arrested five accused in the case.

Jalandhar SSP, Vigilance Bureau, Diljinder Singh Dhillon said during the investigation into the accounts of the society, it had come to light that a scam to the tune of Rs 7,14,07,596.23 had been committed in connivance with employees of the cooperative society.

There are about 1,000 account holders or members in the said society. This society has been running an Indian Oil petrol pump, tractor and agricultural implements to plough a large amount of agricultural land. Apart from this, the society sells fertilisers and pesticides to farmers and a total of six employees are working in different places in the society.

Dhillon said after investigating the matter, it came to light that NRIs and residents of Karnana village got the FDRs worth crores of rupees in the name of the society. Then secretary Inderjit Dhir, who has also been the cashier earlier, embezzled crores of rupees by setting limits etc., on the said FDRs in collusion with then president Randhir Singh and the present cashier Harpreet Singh.

The SSP said during the scrutiny of the records by the technical team from April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2020, the loans taken by the members of the society and deposits of the members amounted to over Rs 7 crore were found

to have been embezzled. Giving the details of the scam, he informed that during the investigation, it was found that two computers were installed in the society by Dhir. While one computer showed the records to the members so as to satisfy them about the entries of their deposits, the other was used to feed the data according to the amount of fraud committed for verification from the audit team and other officials.

On the basis of investigation, it has been established that Inderjit, Harpreet, Randhir, society vice-president Sukhwinder Singh, and society members Ravinder Singh, Mahinder Lal and Kamaljit Singh, all residents of Karnana, village in connivance with each other committed the fraud.

The SSP said a case under Sections 406, 409, 420, 465, 468, 471, 477-A and 120-B of the IPC and Sections 13(1) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act had been registered at Jalandhar.

Accused Randhir, Sukhwinder, Ravinder, Mahinder and Kamaljit have been arrested. Further investigation in this case is underway.

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