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Complaints against mining officer ignored for 3 yrs, says Ropar MLA
The vigilance bureau on Monday arrested Ropar mining officer Simarpreet Kaur Dhillon and her two aides while taking a bribe of ₹25,000 from the owner of a crusher at Anandpur Sahib
A day after the arrests of a woman mining officer and her two aides in a bribery case, Ropar MLA Amarjeet Singh Sandoa claimed that in the past three years, he wrote at least ten letters to the authorities concerned, including the chief minister, complaining about the rampant corruption by the officer, but no action was taken against her.
The vigilance bureau on Monday arrested Ropar mining officer Simarpreet Kaur Dhillon, also having additional charge of Mohali stone crushers, mining guard Pal Singh and clerk Aman while taking a bribe of ₹25,000 from the owner of a crusher at Anandpur Sahib. The arrest was made at the district mining office in Phase 7, Mohali.
All three were produced before a court on Tuesday, which sent them to three-day police remand.
MLA Sandoa said Dhillon used to take bribes from stone crushers in Ropar area on a monthly basis, and if anybody failed to make the payment, she used to seal their units. Her aid Pala Singh used to collect the money. “I have written at least 10 letters to the authorities concerned complaining about her corruption, but no action was taken against her,” he said.
Sandoa alleged that she used to take the money in the name of minister and director of the mining department.
Last month, Mubarakpur Crushers Association lodged a complaint with the principal secretary (mining) against Dhillon alleging that she along with mining contractors demanded monthly payments from all screening plant and crusher owners in the form of ‘goonda tax’.
Association’s vice-president Ranjit Singh Teja said that Dhillon had created terror in the area and was considered the most corrupt person in the department. In December last year, when crusher owners refused to pay her money, she sealed all the screening plants and crushing units in the area. “We were not even able to work,” he said.
In 2018, the woman officer had made news after lodging a police complaint against then general manager of the industries department, Tehal Singh Sekhon, for allegedly misbehaving with her. The complaint later turned out to be false. Sekhon retired last year.
Deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Ajay Kumar, Mohali vigilance bureau, said, “We are checking her properties and have raided her residence in Sector 51, Chandigarh,” he said.
