Illegal Compensation Scam : Vigilance Bureau Arrests Six More Accused for Obtaining Wrongful Gains Worth Crores of Rupees

Chandigarh, May 23, 2023: The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB), during its ongoing campaign against corruption in the state, arrested six more accused on Tuesday in the illegal compensation scam involving planting of guava trees in village Bakarpur, SAS Nagar district. The arrested individuals, comprising three men and three women, obtained compensation worth crores of rupees from the state government through illegal means during the land acquisition in the said village. So far, total 15 accused involved in this scam have been arrested by the VB.

          Disclosing this today, a spokesperson of the state VB said the arrested individuals in this case include Sunita Gupta, wife of PD Gupta, her son Gaurav Kansal, both residents of House No. 199, Sector 18, Chandigarh, Gurminder Singh and Harminder Singh, their mother Sukhraj Kaur, besides Amrik Kaur, widow of Daljit Singh, all residents of Bakarpur village.

          He further informed that during the investigation of said illegal compensation scam, the VB has obtained voluminous documentary records from the Departments of Revenue, Land Acquisition Collector, GMADA, Sub-Registrar Mohali, Horticulture, etc., and analyzed them in detail regarding the roles and actions of the alleged beneficiaries. These beneficiaries have caused wrongful gain to themselves and incurred significant losses to the exchequer in connivance with some officials of different departments.

          Consequently, numerous beneficiaries were nominated as accused, and their premises were raided on Tuesday to effect their arrests, he added.

          The spokesperson further added that during the probe, it was found that PD Gupta, his wife Sunita Gupta, and their two sons Gaurav Kansal and Abhishek Kansal, all residents of House No. 199, Sector 18, Chandigarh, 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. one crore by falsely asserting that a guava orchard had been planted on the said land since 2016. The aforementioned family members have been named as accused in this case, and today, Gaurav Kansal and his mother Sunita Gupta were arrested, he said.

          Similarly, Gurminder Singh and Harminder Singh, both sons of Amar Singh, along with their mother Sukhraj Kaur, all residents of Bakarpur village, also fraudulently claimed compensation of Rs. 1.84 crores each in collusion with officials from the Revenue and Horticulture Departments. They have been named as accused in this case and have been arrested by the Bureau.

          Providing further details, he informed that Amrik Kaur, the widow of Daljit Singh, and her son Varinder Singh, residents of village Bakarpur, had also received wrongful compensation of Rs. 1.25 lakhs each. Amrik Kaur has been arrested after being named as an accused in this case. Furthermore, various teams of the VB conducted raids at different locations across the state to apprehend other accused individuals, and a special operation was currently ongoing, he added.