6 More Arrested in Illegal Compensation Scam in Punjab Taking Total to 15

Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) has arrested six more accused in the illegal compensation scam in Bakarpur village, SAS Nagar district. The six accused including three men and three women were given crores of rupees by the state government through illegal means during the land acquisition in Bakarpur village.

A spokesperson for the VB shared that six people including three men and three women have been arrested for their involvement in the illegal compensation scam related to the planting of guava trees in Bakarpur village. They have been identified as Sunita Gupta, wife of PD Gupta, and her son Gaurav Kansal, both residents of Sector 18, Chandigarh. Gurminder Singh and Harminder Singh, as well as their mother Sukhraj Kaur, in addition to Amrik Kaur, widow of Daljit Singh. All of them are residents of Bakarpur village.

The VB received a large number of documentary records from the Departments of Revenue, Land Acquisition Collector, GMADA, Sub-Registrar Mohali, Horticulture, etc. It analyzed them in detail to find out the roles and actions of the alleged beneficiaries. These beneficiaries have been accused of acquiring wrongful gains to themselves and incurring significant losses to the exchequer. They also worked with several officials of different departments.

The investigation revealed that PD Gupta, his wife Sunita Gupta, and their two sons Gaurav Kansal and Abhishek Kansal, purchased one acre of land in Bakarpur village in 2018, with each member having an equal 1/4 share. During the acquisition process, they fraudulently claimed compensation of approximately Rs. 1 crore by falsely asserting that a guava orchard had been planted on said land in 2016. Other accused in the case also falsely claimed compensation of Rs. 1.84 crores each in collusion with officials from the Revenue and Horticulture Departments.

Till now, a total of 15 people have been arrested in the illegal compensation scam. VB teams conducted raids at different locations across the state to apprehend other accused individuals.

Vineet Washington