Ludhiana land acquisition case: 3 BDPOs suspended over ₹121 crore fund bungling
The suspension orders come a year and a half after the former Punjab rural development and panchayat minister Laljit Singh Bhullar had ordered officials to chargesheet around a dozen officials of the department and six sarpanches
The department of rural development and panchayats Monday suspended three block development and panchayat officers (BDPOs) over an alleged embezzlement of ₹121 crore land acquisition funds in Ludhiana district, said officials.
The suspension orders come a year and a half after the former Punjab rural development and panchayat minister Laljit Singh Bhullar had ordered officials to chargesheet around a dozen officials of the department and six sarpanches.
According to the orders issued by administrative secretary Ajit Balaji Joshi, the officers—Rupinderjit Kaur, Simrat Kaur and Gurpreet Singh Mangat— have been directed to report to the district development and panchayat officer (DDPO) during their suspension. An inquiry into the financial irregularity is underway.
The alleged scam dates back to 2023, when an internal report submitted to then minister Bhullar highlighted financial discrepancies in several panchayats, including Salempur, Sekhewal, Selkiana, Bounkar Gujran, Kadiana Khurd, and Dhanansu, under the Ludhiana-2 block.
According to the report, land acquisition compensations worth ₹252.94 crore were awarded to these panchayats between financial year 2016-17 and 2020-21. However, ₹120.87 crore from this was allegedly withdrawn and misappropriated with involvement of BDPOs, panchayat secretaries and sarpanches.
In Dhanansu village alone, ₹104.54 crore were paid for 299 acres of acquired land, of which ₹61.23 crore were spent without departmental clearance.
Other big spenders included Sekhewal ( ₹29.5 crore out of ₹64.82 crore), Salempur ( ₹1.53 crore out of ₹5.63 crore), Kadiana Khurd ( ₹3.36 crore out of ₹42.56 crore) and Bounkar Gujran ( ₹25.25 crore out of ₹31.63 crore).
Department guidelines mandate that the land acquisition compensation be deposited as fixed deposit, or FD, with State Bank of India, and only the interest be used for developmental works.
