Bathinda: Naib tehsildar, former patwari held by VB

Bathinda, June 1

The Vigilance Bureau (VB) today arrested Sardulgarh naib tehsildar Balwinder Singh and patwari (retired) Jagjit Singh Jagga on the charges of illegally transferring 28 acres of shamlat land of Sema village in Bathinda district to private persons by tampering revenue records.

Besides booking the two officials, the VB has registered an FIR against 12 beneficiaries. Giving details, a VB spokesperson said then kanungo Balwinder Singh and then patwari of halqa Sema Jagjit Singh had illegally transferred 28 acres of shamlat land in the names of some individuals by altering the revenue records (Jamabandi) pertaining to the year 2005-06. Subsequently, the beneficiaries took loans worth lakhs of rupees from banks.

After conducting probe, a vigilance enquiry was registered in 2017. The VB identified the individuals who got the shamlat land transferred to their names in connivance with these revenue officials.

The spokesperson said a case had been registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act and IPC against the accused at the VB police station.