E-Paper
Mohali: VB makes another arrest in guava tree compensation scam
The latest accused to be arrested by VB is Rohit Sharma, an advocate and son of retired PCS officer Shiv Kumar, who was land acquisition collector for GMADA in 2015-16 before his retirement in 2020
The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) on Saturday arrested another accused in the guava tree compensation scam, wherein compensation worth crores was wrongfully sought in lieu of land acquired by GMADA at Mohali’s Bakarpur village.
Since May 2, the bureau has arrested 16 accused.
The latest accused to be arrested is Rohit Sharma, an advocate and son of retired PCS officer Shiv Kumar, who was land acquisition collector for GMADA in 2015-16 before his retirement in 2020.
A VB spokesperson said Rohit’s wife Bharti obtained wrongful compensation of around ₹80 lakh in lieu of guava plants on 4 kanal land at Bakarpur. They had purchased the land in 2017.
The bureau produced him before a court that sent him to four-day police custody.
Earlier on May 23, VB had arrested six people, including three women. These accused had also obtained compensation worth crores from the state government through illegal means during land acquisition at the said village.
VB had also obtained documentary records from the Mohali revenue department, land acquisition collector, GMADA, sub-registrar and horticulture department, and analysed them in detail regarding the roles and actions of the alleged beneficiaries.
These beneficiaries caused wrongful gains to themselves and incurred significant losses to the exchequer in connivance with some officials of different departments, the spokesperson said.
