The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) has apprehended Sukhdev Singh, a resident of Chandigarh, one of the key accused in the Guava Orchard Scam’ that took place in village Bakarpur, SAS Nagar district in the year 2016-17.

Sukhdev Singh is accused of fraudulently receiving approximately Rs 12 crore in compensation, in his own and his wife’s accounts, in collusion with some government officials and other individuals.

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Disclosing the details of the case on Wednesday, an official spokesperson of the VB stated that Singh played an active role in the criminal conspiracy, indulging in cheating, forgery, and falsification of records, thereby causing wrongful loss to the state exchequer while obtaining illicit financial gains through bribery.

The VB investigation has revealed that with the intent to claim illegal compensation for guava orchards during the land acquisition process for the Aerotropolis Project in SAS Nagar, the accused purchased three Kanal, 16 Marla land in village Bakarpur. Subsequently, he colluded with the prime accused, Bhupinder Singh, a resident of Bakarpur, in falsely establishing the presence of fruit bearing Guava orchards on the land. He then got the trees declared over three-year-old with a fraudulent assessment in collusion with the Horticulture Development officer for compensation under the fruit-yielding tree category.

Elaborating on the scam, the spokesperson disclosed that Sukhdev Singh and Bhupinder Singh had an understanding that that former would bear all expenses, including bribing officials, while the latter would retain two-thirds of the compensation amount from the Land Acquisition Collector (LAC), Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) using bribes and personal influence.

He further informed that to facilitate the fraud, the original Khasra Girdawri revenue register (2016–2021) of village Bakarpur was destroyed and a forged Khasra Girdawari register was prepared in 2019.

Bhupinder Singh, in connivance with Patwari Bachittar Singh, managed to manipulate the land records to falsely reflect the existence of mature guava orchards. Subsequently, Sukhdev Singh and his wife, Harbinder Kaur, fraudulently received Rs 2,40,96,442 and Rs 9,57,86,642, respectively, as compensation from LAC, GMADA.

The spokesperson revealed that to transfer Bhupinder Singh’s share from the illegally obtained compensation, Sukhdev Singh sold approximately six bighas of land in village Chappar Chiri, in SAS Nagar district at an undervalued rate to Bhupinder Singh in 2022 after receiving the wrongful compensation.

Similarly, 32 Kanals of land in village Kailon, SAS Nagar, owned by his wife Harbinder Kaur, was also sold at an undervalued price to Bhupinder Singh.

The spokesperson added that despite repeated summons by the VB, Sukhdev Singh had been evading legal proceedings and was uncooperative during the investigation. Unlike other accused, he neither voluntarily surrendered the fraudulently obtained compensation amount nor sought anticipatory bail from the court by depositing the required sum in treasury.

He added that with the latest recovery of Rs 12 crore the total amount of compensation returned now would be Rs 100 crore as Rs 86 crore had already been deposited by other co-accused beneficiaries. So far, the VB arrested seven government officials and 16 private individuals in this scam and further investigation into the case is going on.