Reportedly punjab Rural Development and panchayat minister Laljit Singh Bhullar on friday claimed to have unearthed a
scam worth around Rs 121 crore in the department and ordered to hand over the officials to the Vigilance
Bureau. Officials said the scam pertains to some officials and sarpanches allegedly withdrawing a part of the
money received from the sale of panchayat land in violation of rules.
Charge sheet filed against dozens of officers including 6 sarpanches
According to an official statement, the minister has directed officials to immediately file a charge sheet against
about a dozen officers of the department, including six sarpanches, in the scam. panchayat minister Laljit Singh
Bhullar said that the Panchayats of Salempur, Sekhewal, Selkiana, Bonkar Gujran, Kadiana Khurd and
Dhanansu of Ludhiana-2 block received Rs 252.94 crore after the acquisition of hundreds of acres of Panchayat
land of these villages, but Rs 120.87 crore. Were taken out. This amount was withdrawn with the alleged
connivance of some corrupt officers and employees of the department as well as sarpanches.
Minister ordered investigation into the matter
Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar said that when the matter came to his notice, he immediately ordered a thorough
investigation by a team under the supervision of a Joint director level officer. Through mutual collusion, an
amount of Rs 120.87 crore was withdrawn from the fixed deposit without spending it. Whereas no one has the
right to withdraw such FD without the approval of the government. Only the interest received from FD can be
spent on village development works after taking administrative and technical approval with the advice of
technical officers. The minister directed the officials to hand over further investigation to the Vigilance Bureau
and said that the process of recovery of money from the accused sarpanches and officials has been started. Along
with this, hdfc bank, yash Bank, Equitas bank and Axis bank can also be blacklisted if they do not cooperate
in the investigation.
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