Patwari, ex-tehsildar among 3 held for taking Rs 7L bribe

Ludhiana, December 27

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) apprehended a patwari, a retired tehsildar of Moonak and another retired patwari for taking a bribe of Rs 7 lakh for facilitating illegal transfer and mutation of agricultural land.

An official spokesperson for the state VB said after a thorough probe, a case was today registered at the VB police station, Economic Offences Wing, here.

The suspects named in the FIR include Sandhura Singh, retired tehsildar, patwari Dharmaraj and former patwari Mithu Singh (both from Halqa Balran, Sangrur district), and Bhagwan Das, another retired patwari, and a private person, Balwant Singh, of Balran village.

Sandhura, Dharamraj and Bhagwan Das were nabbed.

He said the investigation revealed the creation of a fake mutation involving the exchange of land measuring 25 kanal 15 marla, belonging to Gurtej Singh and others at Balran village with Balwant Singh’s land at Raipur village, Jhakhal tehsil, Haryana. Dharmaraj received a bribe of Rs 7 lakh from Balwant to execute the fraudulent mutation. Subsequently, Dharmaraj obtained approval for the mutation from Sandhura, now retired tehsildar, backdated to May 15, 2019, to match entries in the Jamabandi, which had a deadline of May 15, 2023.

The spokesperson highlighted irregularities in the revenue records, noting that the entry for mutation approval was made with a ballpoint pen, unlike other entries on the same date, which were recorded using a gel pen. Additionally, the patwari failed to forward a copy of the mutation to the office of Kanugo to conceal his misdeeds.

Further investigation revealed that no family partition had occurred between Gurtej and others and Balwant. Besides, Balwant did not possess any land at Raisar village in Jhakhal, Haryana. Balwant, claiming ownership of land since 1966, approached Dharmaraj to transfer ownership, who demanded Rs 10 lakh. After negotiations, Dharmaraj accepted a bribe of Rs 7 lakh from Balwant.

The spokesperson added that after Dharmaraj’s transfer, Mithu altered the complainant’s revenue records, fraudulently reducing their shares from 57 kanals 11 marlas to 31 kanals 16 marlas. The illegal action allowed the unlawful attachment/transfer of 25 kanals 15 marlas of land to Balwant. To conceal these acts, Mithu removed pages 134 to 138 from the Jamabandi register and replaced them with new pages, lacking serial numbers, unlike the rest of the register.

The investigation revealed that Mithu manipulated the revenue records while making it online on May 7, 2021. Balwant then transferred the land in question to his grandson, Balraj Singh. Bhagwan Das entered the mutation and received approval on July 14, 2022.

When the complainant, Gurtej Singh, came to know about the same, he lodged a complaint, then Bhagwan Das made a correction but failed to reference mutation based on the sale deed.

The spokesperson said further probe into the case was underway and the remaining suspects would be apprehended soon.

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#Punjab Vigilance Bureau