BDPO, three sarpanches, two secys suspended for embezzling ₹42 lakh

CHANDIGARH :Rural development and panchayati raj minister Tript Rajinder Bajwa on Saturday suspended a block development and panchayat officer (BDPO), two panchayat secretaries and three sarpanches of villages falling under the Attari block of Amritsar district for alleged embezzlement of ₹42.13-lakh grant.

The minister had ordered a probe after the alleged embezzlement was brought to his notice on March 29.

The inquiry conducted by Amritsar district development and panchayat officer (DDPO) held former Attari BDPO Tejinder Singh (now Bhikhiwind BDPO), panchayat secretaries Bhupinder Singh and Satpal Singh and sarpanches Sawinder Singh of Basarke village, Amandeep Singh of Kotli Nasir Khan and Manjit Kaur of Dauke villages guilty of embezzling funds meant for construction of toilets in the villages.

“The probe in this case was kept pending due to political reasons. When I got to know about it, I immediately suspended those involved in the scam. The Amritsar Rural superintendent of police has been instructed to register an FIR against the accused,” said Bajwa.

The Amritsar DDPO had allotted ₹50 lakh for construction of toilets in Basarke, Kotli Nasir Khan and Dauke. During the inspection conducted by junior engineers (JEs) Jatinder Singh and Kamaljeet Singh, it was found no toilet was constructed. The probe report mentioned that only ₹7.8 lakh were found in the accounts of village panchayats, while remaining ₹42.13 had been withdrawn.

Sources said the three sarpanches belong to former Akali minister Gulzar Singh Ranike’s camp. He faced defeat from Attari in the recent assembly polls.

“This is only one example how the SAD men embezzled the grants meant for development. Not even a single penny was spent anywhere. I have received many complaints in this regard from other constituencies as well,” said Bajwa.