₹100-crore Zirakpur land grab case: Trial against 16 to begin on May 5
A special CBI court accepted the investigation report filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which took over the probe from Mohali police following allegations of fraud and forgery.
A special CBI court has summoned all 16 accused, including three public servants, to appear on May 5 for trial in a land-grab case involving eight acres of prime property worth ₹100 crore near VIP Road in Zirakpur.
The court accepted the investigation report filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which took over the probe from Mohali police following allegations of fraud and forgery.
The public servants named in the two cheating FIRs include DSP Kuljinder Singh, retired tehsildar Harminder Singh Sidhu and retired sub-registrar Kuldeep Singh.
The court also summoned 13 other accused—Sanjeev Kumar Gaba, Rajesh Kumar Gaba, Manoj Kumar, Sarabjeet Singh, Rajender Kumar, Vikas Kumar, Umeshveer Vikram Singh, Neeraj Kumar Singhal, Kavita, Paramveer Singh, Rajeev Kumar Gaba, Amit Redu and Harjit Singh.
In line with a Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) order in October 2023, the CBI had taken over the probe in November 2023. Previously, Mohali police had registered two separate cases at the Zirakpur and Dera Bassi police stations in March 2022 and October 2023, respectively.
The petitioner, Guru Nanak Vidya Bhandar Trust, Daryaganj, New Delhi, had moved the high court, seeking transfer of the probe to CBI.
As per the plea, the trust, which is over 100 years old, had purchased various properties from time to time. Among these was a chunk of 8 acres along the Zirakpur-Patiala highway, which was purchased in 1986.
Allegations are that a fake trust was created by forging documents by the accused to forcibly take possession of the land.
It was alleged that the accused used goons and musclemen armed with deadly weapons to illegally take possession of the property. The accused also misused judicial process with the help of advocate Vikas Kumar by attempting to shift the entire forum of litigation from Mohali, and putting pressure on the complainant by filing multiple frivolous civil and criminal suits in the courts, the petitioner had further alleged.
Role of public servants under scanner
CBI probe had found that the accused in connivance with tehsildar Harminder Singh Sidhu executed property mutation in favour of Sanjeev Kumar Gaba.
DSP (Airport) Kuljinder Singh was also hand in glove with the accused, submitting an erroneous inquiry report. “On his report, IPS officer Jyoti Yadav recommended cancellation report in FIR. Advocate Vikas Kumar was also in connivance with the accused and called irrelevant witnesses, namely Neeraj Kumar Singhal and Paramveer Singh, in the judicial courts at Bathinda,” the CBI report read.
Investigation further revealed that the Supplementary Trust Deed, dated November 12, 2021, was fraudulently registered by the accused in collusion with sub-registrar Kuldeep Singh.
While directing the accused to appear before the court on May 5, the court of Megha Dhaliwal, special judicial magistrate, CBI, Punjab, said, “Sanction under Section 218 BNSS (197 CRPC) qua DSP Kuljinder Singh, retired sub-registrar Kuldeep Singh and retired tehsildar Harminder Singh Sidhu has been received from their respective departments and are thereby made part of the police report.”
