Face2News/Chandigarh
The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) has apprehended Sukhdev Singh, a resident of Chandigarh, one of the key co-accused in the ‘Guava Orchard Scam’ that took place in village Bakarpur, SAS Nagar district in the year 2016-17. The accused had fraudulently received approximately Ra 12 crore in compensation in his own and his wife’s accounts, in collusion with government officials and other individuals.
Disclosing the details an official spokesperson of the VB stated that Sukhdev Singh played an active role in the criminal conspiracy, indulging in cheating, forgery, and falsification of records, thereby causing wrongful loss to the state exchequer while obtaining illicit financial gains through bribery.
To facilitate the fraud, the original Khasra Girdawri revenue register (2016–2021) of village Bakarpur was destroyed and a forged Khasra Girdawri register was prepared in 2019. Bhupinder Singh, in connivance with revenue Patwari Bachittar Singh, managed to manipulate the land records to falsely reflect the existence of mature Guava orchards. Subsequently, Sukhdev Singh and his wife, Harbinder Kaur, fraudulently received Rs 2,40,96,442 and Rs 9,57,86,642, respectively, as compensation from LAC, GMADA.
The VB investigation has revealed that with the intent to claim illegal compensation for Guava orchards during the land acquisition process for the Aerotropolis project in SAS Nagar, Sukhdev Singh had purchased 3 Kanal 16 Marla land in village Bakarpur. Subsequently, he conspired with the prime accused, Bhupinder Singh, a resident of Bakarpur, to falsely establish the presence of fruit bearing Guava orchards on the land. He further ensured the collusion of the concerned Horticulture Development Officer, to fraudulently assess and declare the trees as being over three years old, making them eligible for compensation under the fruit-yielding tree category.
Elaborating on the fraudulent scheme, the spokesperson disclosed that Sukhdev Singh and Bhupinder Singh had an agreement wherein Sukhdev Singh would bear all expenses including bribing officials while Bhupinder Singh would retain two-thirds of the compensation amount once it was fraudulently secured from the Land Acquisition Collector (LAC), Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) using bribes and personal influence.
He further informed that to facilitate the fraud, the original Khasra Girdawri revenue register (2016–2021) of village Bakarpur was destroyed and a forged Khasra Girdawri register was prepared in 2019. Bhupinder Singh, in connivance with revenue Patwari Bachittar Singh, managed to manipulate the land records to falsely reflect the existence of mature Guava orchards. Subsequently, Sukhdev Singh and his wife, Harbinder Kaur, fraudulently received Rs 2,40,96,442 and Rs 9,57,86,642, respectively, as compensation from LAC, GMADA.
The spokesperson further revealed that to transfer Bhupinder Singh’s share out of the illegally obtained compensation, Sukhdev Singh had sold approximately 6 Bighas of land in village Chappar Chiri, in SAS Nagar district at an undervalued rate to Bhupinder Singh in 2022 after receiving the wrongful compensation. Similarly, 32 Kanals of land in village Kailon, SAS Nagar, owned by his wife Harbinder Kaur, was also sold at an undervalued price to Bhupinder Singh.
The spokesperson added that despite repeated summons by the VB, Sukhdev Singh had been evading legal proceedings and was uncooperative during the investigation. Unlike other co-accused beneficiaries, he neither voluntarily surrendered the fraudulently obtained compensation amount nor sought anticipatory bail from the court by depositing the required sum in treasury.
He added that with the latest recovery of Rs 12 crore the total amount of compensation returned now would be Rs 100 crore as Rs 86 crore had already been deposited by other co-accused beneficiaries. So far the VB had already arrested 7 government officials and 16 private individuals in this scam and further investigation into the case is ongoing.