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Vigilance bureau arrests ex-Punjab DGP Sumedh Saini in land fraud case
The FIR was registered on September 2020; the matter pertains to fraudulent sale of a land in Kurali in Mohali district, says vigilance officials
Punjab vigilance and anti-corruption bureau on Wednesday arrested former state police chief Sumedh Singh Saini in connection with a September 2020 case pertaining to a fraudulent sale of a land in Kurali in Mohali district.
According to a top vigilance official, Saini reached the bureau office at 8.10 pm, on his own, saying he wanted to join investigation in the corruption case against him. The official said the former DGP parked his car outside the compound gate in order to project that he had come to join investigation in a case in which he had got interim anticipatory bail and was to join investigation under orders of the Punjab and Haryana high court by August 18, 2021.
On getting this information, the investigating officer apprehended Saini while he continued sitting in his car and refused to get out. He was formally arrested in another case for having committed offence of forgery in order to stall the process of attachment of a house in Sector 20-D, Chandigarh, by the court of special judge Mohali. Saini has been claiming to be a tenant in the house after his retirement.
On Tuesday, Saini had moved the HC pleading that the VB was likely to arrest him in another case. However, the petition was withdrawn by the ex-DGP.
On August 3, high drama prevailed outside Saini’s Sector-20 house when a VB team came to arrest him following a registration of the FIR in an assets case. However, the bureau could not find Saini at his house despite having credible information about his presence
The case files
According to information, Saini has been arrested in connection with an FIR registered on September 17, 2020, under sections 420 (cheating), 467, 468 (forgery), 408 (breach of trust) and 120 (B) ( criminal conspiracy) at vigilance bureau police station in Phase -1, Mohali.
The case, pertaining to the sale of land in Kurali, was registered against Devinder Singh Sandhu, director, WWICS Estate Private Ltd , Naginder Rao, general manager of WWICS, Ashok Kumar Sikka (PCS Officer), for forgery of documents with regard to change of land use by WWICS in connivance with employees of the local bodies department.
The VB further nominated PWD XEN Nimratdeep Singh and his father Jaspal Singh in the case. The VB claimed that the amount at which Jaspal had sold the land was utilised to buy the Sector- 20 house where Saini was staying.
“Saini and Jaspal showed a forged rent agreement between them. Later, Saini bought the house and paid some amount to Jaspal also,” the VB probe had claimed.
Though VB had attached Saini’s house, he was not nominated in the case till now even as Jaspal and his son had got bail from the high court.
This is the fourth case registered against Saini during the current Capt Amarinder Singh-led Congress government in the state. In all other cases, Saini has managed to secure blanket bails.
Saini had repeatedly claimed that the Congress government has been vindictive against him because as vigilance chief during the previous SAD-BJP regime, he had registered cases against Amarinder Singh and his aide BS Chahal.
