Naib tehsildar held for land scam

Chandigarh/Ropar, August 10

The Vigilance Bureau (VB) has arrested naib tehsildar Raghbir Singh, posted at Anandpur Sahib, in connection with the multi-crore land scam.

He, along with Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee member Daljit Singh Bhinder and his brother Amarinder Singh, was booked on June 28 for “fraudulently” selling 54 acres of private forestland in Ropar’s Karuran village to the Punjab Forest Corporation for compensatory afforestation. This caused a loss of Rs 4.8 crore to the state exchequer.

The forestland was shown as non-forestland while selling it off. The land belonged to the Sarbat Da Bhala Trust and it was sold off on the basis of fake documents for Rs 9.9 lakh per acre against the collector rate of Rs 90,000 per acre. After the Ropar police registered the case of cheating, the Vigilance Bureau took over the investigation.

Ropar legislator Dinesh Chadha had raised the matter in the recent Budget session of the Assembly.

Four Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers — Amit Mishra, Amit Chauhan, Geetanjali and Yugog Raj Rathore — have been chargesheeted in the case.

Both Mishra and Chauhan were posted as the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Ropar, when the land was sold. Vigilance officials said the role of the IFS officers was also being probed.

A case had been filed with the Anandpur Sahib court for recovering the sale amount and cancelling the land registries.

During the investigation, it has come to light that the land sold to the Punjab Forest Corporation was about 46 acres, and not 54 acres as mentioned in the registry. The documents also indicated that the naib tehsildar breached his jurisdiction and went to Nurpur Bedi tehsil for land registry on September 1, 2020.

Rs 4.8-crore loss

• About 54 acres of forestland belonging to the Sarbat Da Bhala Trust was ‘fraudulently’ sold off for Rs 9.9 lakh per acre; the collector rate of Rs 90,000
• The forestland, situated in Ropar’s Karuran village, was shown as non-forestland when it was sold off, causing a loss of Rs 4.8 crore to the state exchequer
• During the probe, it came to light the land sold to the corporation was about 46 acres, and not 54 acres as mentioned in the registry