Moga DDPO shifted days after he exposed ₹55 lakh bungling

MOGA : Days after district development and panchayat officer (DDPO) Ravinderpal Singh unearthed a Rs 59 lakh village fund scam in Dhurkot village, the state government has transferred and relieved him.

On June 16, a day before going on leave, Ravinderpal submitted the inquiry report in the scam in which funds were embezzled from the village bank account. Dhurkot sarpanch Sarabjit Kaur, panchayat secretary Karam Singh and block development and panchayat officer (BDPO) Jaspreet Singh were indicted in his inquiry report. BDPO Jaspreet is already under suspension in another scam in a village grant that HT had also highlighted.

Ravinderpal, who joined on April 27, reported several cases of financial irregularities in the working of panchayats of the district in his short stint. Sources said the sudden transfer resulted due to Ravinderpal’s strong posture against political pressure and his insistence on a fair probe.

Lakhwinder Singh Randhawa, a close aide of top district officers in the district, will be the new DDPO. Randhawa was Kapurthala zila parishad secretary before this.

Sources said lobbying from a Dharamkot-based senior Congress leader led to the transfer. This was after Ravinder ignored pressure from the leader to settle cases as he wished.

“Transferring an officer within two months without any reason is an indication that strings were pulled behind the scenes,” a source said.

In addition to this, Ravinderpal got an FIR registered against sarpanch Balwinder Singh and panch Jaswant Singh of Chirag Shah Wala village in Dharamkot sub-division for fraudulently allotting five-marla plots villagers in lieu of money. No permission was taken from any department.

Ravinderpal refused to comment on the transfer.

DDPO, WHO JOINED ON APRIL 27, REPORTED SEVERAL CASES OF IRREGULARITIES IN DISTRICT’S PANCHAYATS