Malerkotla patwari held for graft was getting paid for two govt jobs

LAND RECORDS OF 33 PROPERTIES REGISTERED IN DIFFERENT NAMES HAVE ALSO BEEN RECOVERED FROM HIS HOUSE

SANGRUR: Didar Singh, a patwari in Malerkotla who was arrested by the Punjab vigilance bureau (VB) in a bribery case last week, is withdrawing money from the state exchequer for two separate government services, the probe has found. The VB has also recovered land records of at least 33 commercial and agricultural properties registered in different names from his house.

Withdrawal of the FIR registered against Didar Singh is among one of the key demands of Punjab’s patwaris and kanungos who went on a statewide mass casual leave on Wednesday, alleging that he had been falsely implicated.

Satnam Singh, deputy superintendent of police (DSP), vigilance, Sangrur, said: “We have raided Didar Singh’s house in the past few days and found 33 registries of commercial and agricultural properties worth ₹1.77 crore. All properties were registered in separate names, including his relatives’. We are probing all these records to find what these property registrations were doing at his home when these were not registered in his name.”

The DSP said that Didar Singh is also the nambardar of Chhokran village in Malerkotla and has received ₹2.01 lakh honorarium from the state for that government service, which too was a case of corruption. A nambardar, who represents a village in its dealings with the government for revenue administration, falls under the category of public servant under the Prevention of Corruption act.

“Apart from this, ₹25 lakh are lying in his two bank accounts. We have also sealed his locker at a private bank in Malerkotla. We had to search the locker on Wednesday, but he did not provide its keys,” said the DSP.