Fraudulent sale of land in Kurali: SIT names seven in challan, says probe against ex-DGP Sumedh Singh Saini pending

Three years after former Punjab director general of police (DGP) Sumedh Singh Saini was named in a September 2020 FIR over the alleged fraudulent land sale in Kurali in Mohali district, the state police SIT filed challan against seven persons, excluding the former DGP.

The high court constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by SS Srivastava, currently ADGP (security), filed the challan on December 2, stating that the investigation pertaining to Saini’s involvement is pending.

Post investigation, appropriate action will be taken regarding Saini and the report will be submitted before the court, the challan filed before the court of additional district and sessions judge Ajit Atri has said.

Saini was arrested by the vigilance bureau in the case on August 18, 2021, when he had gone to the vigilance office in connection with another FIR. But he had to be released at midnight on August 19 as the high court declared the arrest “illegal”. He was named in the FIR on August 2, 2021. The FIR number 11 of September 17, 2020, was registered by the vigilance bureau under Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and forgery, criminal conspiracy etc. against PWD XEN, Nimratdeep Singh and his father, Surinderjit Singh Jaspal, among others, who had allegedly sold a house in Sector-20, Chandigarh, to Saini, which they had allegedly bought from proceeds of crime. Initially, Saini had stayed at this house as a tenant after retirement as state DGP.

The SIT probe was ordered as Saini had apprehended “false implication in criminal matters on account of malice, malafide and ulterior motives” by then Congress government in the state in 2020-2021. The allegations against Saini are of forgery of the will pertaining to the house.

“It has been over four years since this case was registered. There was no evidence against SS Saini when the final report was submitted. Let it be more thoroughly investigated, he would welcome it. False implication stands exposed. Legal action for abuse of political power in 2020 will be taken,” Saini’s lawyer, GS Brar said.

Meanwhile in the chargesheet, the SIT has named seven persons as accused, including WWICS Estate Private Ltd director Devinder Singh Sandhu, PCS officer Ashok Kumar Sikka, who was then posted as deputy director, local government, Patiala, Shakti Sagar Bhatia, who was then posted as assistant town planner with Patiala municipal corporation; then PWD XEN Nimratdeep Singh and his father Surinderjit Singh Jaspal, who is the owner of Sector-20 house. Besides, property dealers Taranjit Singh Bawa and Mohit Puri are also arraigned as accused.

Notably, the prosecution sanction against Sikka and Bhatia is pending.

The challan has been filed under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471, 474, 120-B of Indian Penal Code (IPC) besides under relevant sections of Prevention of Corruption Act.

As per the challan, Nimratdeep Singh and Davinder Singh Sandhu were good friends. The former sold the Kurali land to Sandhu through dealers Taranjit Bawa and Mohit Puri. The accused forged documents with regard to change of land use (CLU) by WWICS in connivance with employees of the local bodies department. Later, a colony on the said land came up and they allegedly got the land regularised at a cheaper price by projecting it to be an unauthorised colony and also claimed sale of multiple plots already before the CLU.

Notably, the CLU fees for regularising an unauthorised colony is less as compared to fees of getting a new colony regularised.

Probe says the accused encroached upon a seasonal channel and blocked its natural flow. Nimratdeep Singh received payment from Sandhu in three accounts, including in two joint accounts with his father, against sale of their land to Sandhu.

They received separate transactions of around ₹5.56 crore and ₹8.17 crore in two joint accounts. Jaspal had utilised this money to buy the Sector- 20 house, Chandigarh, for ₹6.40 crore.