‘Fake’ armyman secures govt land, RTI nails lie after 48 years

LUCKNOW: The power of right to information (RTI) came to the fore recently again when an RTI query exposed a 48-yearold fraud committed by a ‘fake’ army man in Rampur district.

State information commissioner Hafiz Usman has directed divisional commissioner, Moradabad, to take action against the accused.

According to an inquiry report, Sohan Singh of Pasiyarpur hamlet of Aliganj in Rampur, managed to secure 25 acres of land for farming from the district administration in 1967 by ‘proving’ himself to being a retired Lance Naik of the Indian Army through fake papers.

The land was allotted to Singh under the then Government Grant Act, which allowed district magistrates to allot land for farming to ex-soldiers. On this land, Singh also took a loans of several lakhs from nationalised banks.

Meanwhile, Gurbachan Kaur, wife of late freedom fighter Banta Singh and also a native of Pasiyarpur hamlet, came to know about the fraud in 2011 and filed an RTI application with office of district magistrate, Rampur, seeking details about Sohan’s army background.

Kaur, however, failed to get any information from the district magistrate’s office. She then filed a plea in the office of state information commissioner on October 28, 2014.

Taking serious note of the issue, Usman directed district magistrate, Rampur, to provide details about Sohan’s background.

After much delay, the Rampur district administration last week submitted a report that was shocking.

In the probe carried out by additional district magistrate, Rampur, it was revealed that the papers submitted by Sohan, claiming himself to being a former Lance Naik in the Jat Regiment, were fake.

The Jat Regiment Centre, Bareilly, in reply to a query from the district administration, Rampur, informed it that there was no person by the name of Sohan Singh in its list of exsoldiers.

“The inquiry has proved that Sohan Singh presented fake papers to show himself as exsoldier,” Usman told HT.

“Now, I have ordered the divisional commissioner, Moradabad, to take action against Sohan,” Usman added.