E-Paper
Naib tehsildar, others, illegally changed ownership of 100 acres at Mohali village
General power of attorney were obtained from people who were fraudulently shown as owners of the land.
A naib tehsildar in Zirakpur and other revenue officials illegally changed ownership of 100 acres out of 1,295 acres of village land, naming people who were not even residents of Seonk village in Mohali’s Majri block, interrogations have revealed
They then obtained general power of attorneys (GPAs) from these persons and sold the land at higher rates. The revelations come five days after the accused were arrested by the Vigilance Bureau (VB) on November 2 for illegally taking over shamlat land (belonging to the panchayat) at the village.
VB had arrested Varinderpal Singh Dhoot, the then naib tehsildar of the Majri block, and other revenue officials, including kanungo Raghbir Singh, patwari Iqbal Singh and nambardar Gurnam Singh for fraudulently changing the ownership titles.
The case dates back to 2017, when Dhoot was posted as the naib tehsildar in Majri. He allegedly in connivance with subordinate revenue officials and private individuals fraudulently sold off the 100 acres, leading to losses in crores to the government exchequer.
People renamed as the owners were not even residents of the village, a senior VB official said, adding that they have not been traced as yet.
Investigations were continuing on how the money from sale of land had been spent and resultant losses to the exchequer. “We are also looking into details of the properties and other financial transactions of the accused,” the official said.
On Sunday, three deputy superintendents of police visited Seonk and recorded the statements of the original land owners as in some cases money was taken from them for the land, but possession not delivered.
Probe also revealed that while the ownership of 1,295 acres of shamlat land was being fraudulently transferred, boundaries of approximately 100 acres were altered, depriving 24 beneficiaries of their shares, officials said.
According to the FIR, the accused persons took undisclosed sums from people to get their names registered in the land records. In a statement to the VB, the block development and panchayat officer stated that according to the land records, the land in question from 1946 till 2000 was in the shamlat and not agricultural category and had no ownership.
At present all the accused are in police custody and will be produced in the court on November 10. An FIR under Sections 409, 420, 465, 467, 471 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered in the case.
