Punjab Vigilance Bureau starts probe in Mohali land grab

Tribune News Service

Vishav Bharti

Chandigarh, December 1

Taking cognisance of The Tribune report on private real estate developers allegedly grabbing panchayat land worth Rs 500 crore in Mohali, the Vigilance Bureau has started a probe in the matter.

According to sources, the Vigilance has been preparing a source report and would summon record from the Department of Rural Development and Panchayats.

Land not in our possession: JLPL

Reacting to The Tribunestory, AAP MLA Kulwant Singh said the panchayat land falls within the projects of his company, but was not in their possession. He said the panchayat land in the JLPL projects was vacant or the revenue paths were being used as roads.

A top functionary of the Vigilance said the probe has been initiated and they may register an FIR as well.

In its edition on Thursday, The Tribune had reported that around 80 acres of the panchayat land worth Rs 500 crore was lying inside the projects of real estate developers. Other districts where panchayat land was in possession of developers include Patiala, Ludhiana, Amritsar and Bathinda.

A couple of months ago, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayats Kuldeep Dhaliwal had gone gaga about a similar scam at Bhagtupura village in Amritsar. He had claimed that prime panchayat land was given to a developer on meagre prices.

However, the same enthusiasm was missing in case of Mohali land grab where the government supposedly failed to get even a single penny from the developers.

Ironically, the government has failed to recover money for its own land, which has been lying inside private colonies for past 15 years. As per the Department of Rural Development and Panchayats, 54 different chunks of panchayat lands in 35 villages of Mohali district have been grabbed by various developers.

Rohit Sharma, while talking on behalf of DLF, said they had already deposited money with the government for most of the land registered on company’s name. He said there were some legal hurdles in regard to one chunk of land and once the matter gets resolved, the developer would deposit the amount for the same.

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