Punjab Chief Town Planner Pankaj Bawa arrested for illegally passing housing projects

PTI

Chandigarh, February 24

The Punjab Chief Town Planner was arrested after he was booked along with two others, including a builder, for allegedly illegally passing housing projects, said the Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Saturday.

The bureau arrested Chief Town Planner (CTP) Pankaj Bawa after he, along with Mohali-based Bajwa Developers Limited director J S Bajwa and revenue official Lekh Raj, was booked.

A spokesperson of the bureau said that during investigation of a complaint, it was found that Bajwa Developers Limited got a residential and commercial project over 179 acres of land in villages Sinhpur, Hasanpur and Jandpur in Mohali passed by the state government.

Bajwa Developers Limited also got an approved layout plan of a residential project in Mohali and also got approved a housing plan for economically weaker sections (EWS) over an area of 9.09 acres.

The spokesperson said the change of land use certificate of some portion of the land in Mohali was not given but Bajwa Developers Limited, allegedly in connivance with Bawa and some other officials, got the land approved.

Bajwa Developers, in collusion with the then officials, in 2014 and 2015 constructed 78 commercial booths in a project of Sector 123 without getting the designs and maps passed, which caused financial loss to the government to the tune of crores of rupees, which were to be earned as map fees.

A case under the relevant sections of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against the accused, said the spokesperson.

#Mohali #Punjab Vigilance Bureau