Ropar: SGPC member among 3 booked for duping Forest Department

Tribune News Service

Ropar, June 28

The district police have booked three persons, including SGPC member Daljit Singh Bhinder, for allegedly duping the Punjab State Forest Corporation by selling 54 acres to it at inflated rates leading to loss of Rs 5 crore to the exchequer.

The department has also initiated action against the officials, who allegedly connived with the accused. Ropar MLA Dinesh Chadha also raised the issue in the Assembly today on which the Forest Minister said he had already directed the police to register a case against the accused.

The Punjab State Forest Corporation had floated a tender on May 29, 2019, to buy land for compensatory afforestation for which Bhinder and his brother Amarinder Singh Bhinder offered their land at Rs 9,90,000 per acre at Karura village near Nurpur Bedi.

Interestingly, the collector rate of the land in the area was fixed at a mere Rs 90,000 per acre. Still, the department officials agreed to purchase 54 acres and 8 marla from the sellers at the price demanded by them.

According to an inquiry conducted by the district administration, it came to light that the revenue department officials of Anandpur Sahib also didn’t bother to provide any record regarding collector rate or market rate of the said land to forest department officials before purchasing the land despite various communications by officials concerned.

The inquiry also revealed that a fake record of a deal regarding one acre land at a price of Rs 10 lakh in neighboring Katta village was presented before the authorities to get approval for paying the price of Rs 9.9 lakh per acre to sellers.

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