Punjab: Ex-min held for corruption
Chandigarh: The Punjab Vigilance Bureau arrested former state minister and Congress leader Sadhu Singh Dharamsot along with two others on corruption charges in the early hours on Tuesday, officials said.
The social welfare and forest minister in the previous Amarinder Singh-led government was arrested from Amloh.
Former minister Sangat Singh Gilzian, who was the forest minister in the Charanjit Singh Channi-led government, has also been named in the FIR.
Dharamsot, however, denied corruption charges levelled against him, saying he is being framed. A Mohali court later sent him to three-day police custody.
A few days earlier, a district forest officer (DFO), Guramanpreet Singh, and contractor Harmohinder Singh Hummy were arrested in a corruption case.
Punjab Vigilance Bureau's Chief Director Varinder Kumar said during the contractor and the DFO's questioning, it came to the fore that the former minister was involved in corruption.
Investigation has revealed that Dharamsot used to be given Rs 500 for the felling of each tree, Kumar claimed. Over the time, around Rs 1.25 crore was given to the minister as commission, he alleged.
Kamaljit Singh, a Khanna-based journalist, and Chamkaur Singh, OSD to Dharamsot, who used to receive money on his behalf, have also been arrested, said Kumar.
The Bureau spokesperson said Hummy in his statement said he had been maintaining a handwritten diary regarding bribes given to senior officers of the forests department, political leaders and their front men from time to time since 2017.
The dairy has been recovered from his place.
Hummy was into the business of cutting and selling of khair (Senegalia catechu) trees after obtaining the mandatory permit from the department.
He obtained permits for felling around 7,000 trees for the October-March season for which he had to pay a bribe of Rs 1,000 per tree, which includes the payment of Rs 500 to Dharamsot, Rs 200 to the divisional forest officer and Rs 100 each to range officer, block officer and forest guard, respectively, said the spokesperson.
Apart from him, there were 15 other contractors in Mohali who like him also had to give similar bribes, otherwise, they were denied permits or harassed with the threat of heavy fines, Hummy alleged.
The spokesperson said Dharamsot allegedly used to get bribe of Rs 10 to 20 lakh for the transfer of a DFO, Rs 5 to 8 lakh for a ranger, Rs 5 lakh for a block officer and Rs 2 to 3 lakh for a forest guard through his aides.
Besides, Dharamsot used to get bribes from colonisers, newly installed filling stations, owners of new projects as well as hotels and restaurants for issuance of NOCs in lieu of passage on forests land, alleged the spokesperson.
The spokesperson said Hummy had also given Rs 5 lakh as bribe to former forest minister Sangat Singh Gilzian through one Kulwinder Singh for issuance of a permit for felling trees at Nada village, Mohali district.
Gilzian had arranged a meeting of Hummy with DFOs in Punjab and had directed that the purchase of tree guards for protection of plants would only be made from one Sachin Kumar, said the spokesperson.
The cost of one tree guard was Rs 2,800 and out of which Gilzian's share as bribe was Rs 800.
A total of 80,000 tree guards were bought at that time and Gilzian collected Rs 6.40 crore as bribe, said the spokesperson.
Rupnagar DFO Amit Chauhan used to show a lesser number of standing trees on panchayat lands and shared the proceeds of felling of remaining actual number of trees with the contractors, thereby, causing a loss to the panchayats funds.
The Vigilance, besides Dharamsot and Gilzian, booked IFS officer Amit Chauhan, DFO Guramanpreet Singh, forest guard Dilpreet Singh, Chamkaur Singh, OSD to Dharamsot, Kamaljit Singh, Kulwinder Singh, PA to Gilzian, and one Sachin Kumar.
Dharamsot's name had also figured in an alleged scholarship scam in 2020 but he was exonerated by a three-member panel of IAS officers.
