E-Paper
Haryana IAS officer’s brother among 3 booked for forgery
IAS officer Virender Singh Lather has alleged their involvement in financial irregularities to the tune of ₹25 crore
Haryana Police have booked the brother of an IAS officer and two others for their alleged involvement in financial irregularities to the tune of ₹25 crore, officials privy to the development said on Saturday.
The action comes following the orders of Haryana home minister Anil Vij who had received a complaint from IAS officer Virender Singh Lather.
As per the FIR, the accused are Joginder Singh Lather, elder brother of Virender, Rajinder Singh Bisht and Pawan Kumar, a bank manager from Delhi.
Virender is a 2014-batch Haryana-cadre IAS officer posted as commissioner of the Ambala municipal corporation since February.
In his complaint, Virender claimed that his brother got a loan worth ₹25 crore sanctioned for Prabhu Dayal Memorial Religious and Educational Association by mortgaging his immovable property. The IAS officer said his brother used unregistered documents with his forged signatures in connivance with two other persons and officials of a centralised bank.
“In March 2019, during my posting in Chandigarh, I received a letter about the auction of a land in which I had one-third share. Later, I came to know about the unpaid loan due to which the notice was received. After checking case files, I found the signatures of Bisht as power of attorney on loan documents. However, I had never given such rights to the Trust and my brother gave Bisht the power of attorney by forging my signatures,” Virender told the police.
He further added that a complaint was filed in April 2019 against the bank official and later an appeal was filed in a local court. “The court sought the status report, which the police furnished after which my case was dismissed,” he mentioned in his complaint.
Virender said he had then in July 2021 filed another complaint naming the three accused, but after getting no response from the police, he met Vij twice this year and the case was finally registered.
On being asked about the case, minister Vij said, “Yes, Virender met me recently and explained the case in detail. I contacted Jhajjar superintendent of police to ensure that an FIR is registered as per the complaint and it has been done.”
The fresh FIR was registered under sections 120-B, 418, 420, 467, 468, and 471 of the IPC at the Sector-6 police station in Bahadurgarh on June 4.
Despite repeated attempts, Joginder’s comments couldn’t be elicited. However, Bisht refuted the allegations and claimed that Virender was misusing his post as an officer.
“I was granted the power of attorney and as a part of the Trust, I did my job as told,” he said.
It may be noted here that Joginder’s son is the CEO of a renowned private university in Bahadurgarh, besides being a member of its governing body.
