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Vigilance arrests Punjab conservator of forests
Punjab Vigilance Bureau arrested IFS officer Vishal Chauhan posted as conservator of forests, Punjab. Chauhan is arrested for being a conspirator and director for registering FIR against BS Sandhu and Devinder Singh
The Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Thursday arrested Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Vishal Chauhan posted as conservator of forests, Punjab, from Mohali. His name has been nominated in the FIR in which vigilance busted the forest scam with the arrest of Guramanpreet Singh, divisional forest officer (DFO), Mohali, and contractor Harmahinder Singh, alias Hummy, for demanding and accepting a bribe from WWICS owner Devinder Singh Sandhu. He will be produced in the court on Friday, said the vigilance sleuths.
Davinder Singh, son of Col BS Sandhu (retd), owns about 100 acres of land in the name of his company at Masol and Tanda villages in Majri sub-tehsil of Mohali district, some part of which comes under Section 4 of the PLPA Act, 1900, where they had set up a farmhouse.
Chauhan is arrested for being a conspirator and director for registering an FIR against BS Sandhu and Devinder Singh in lieu of settling a complaint registered against them through Ranjodh Singh, range officer, for allegedly causing damage to natural flora and fauna.
Davinder Singh recorded the entire conversation while handing over the money to Guramanpreet Singh and Harmahinder Singh, who also told him that they would apprise him of the remaining amount after discussing the details of the project with Chauhan.
Later, they told Davinder Singh to initially give an amount of ₹one crore with monthly instalments of ₹10 lakh and ₹5 lakh in the subsequent sale of land. However, Davinder Singh refused to give the bribe and got a case registered through the Anti-Corruption Helpline.
Later, Chauhan and Guramanpreet Singh in connivance with their subordinates got an FIR registered on May 9, 2022, under Sections 4 and 5 of the PLP Act, 1900, against BS Sandhu and others at the Naya Gaon Police Station, Mohali. Chauhan, thereafter, also asked his subordinates for the addition of sections in the case as well as the nomination of Davinder Singh therein. He also wrote a typed complaint in this regard.
Owing to his complicity in the matter through the aforementioned sequence of events and documentary evidence that came up during the investigation, Chauhan was also nominated in the above-mentioned case and has been arrested.
